PostButterflied
by Tanguay18
Summary: This story picks up right where the episode "Butterflied" left off because I was not satisfied with how the show just left it. Sara does not react well to Grissom's words to Dr. Lurie. Can he fix things before it's too late? [Complete]
1. Chapter 1

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

_Spoilers:_ This story takes directly after the episode Butterflied. In fact, if you haven't seen Butterflied, you'll probably be very confused.

**Chapter One**

"Gil!"

Grissom froze at the sound of his name. He was afraid of who was trying to catch up to him and almost pretended he didn't hear the detective calling his name. He decided it was best to just stop and wait for his friend to catch up.

"Gil, we need to talk," Brass said seriously.

"I have to get back to the lab," Grissom sighed.

"No, what you need to do is go home and get some sleep. Catherine told me you pulled a triple shift, that's not good," Brass warned.

"I know," Grissom shook his head, "is that what you want to talk about?"

"No, let's go to my office, somewhere more private. And before you even say it, this is not up for debate," Brass said in a tone that was usually reserved for the interrogation room.

Grissom followed the detective warily to his office. He had a feeling that Brass was going to pry into what he'd just said to Dr. Lurie. He honestly didn't know why he said that, with Brass and another officer standing there. He supposed he was hoping that by relating to the suspect, he might make him flinch, but Dr. Lurie was tough. Grissom sat in front of Jim Brass, and they stared at each other for a moment.

"What is it about this case that bothered you so much, Gil? Was it the fact that Debbie Marlin looked so much Sara?" Brass asked, "because I noticed that too."

"Jim," Grissom started angrily, "I don't want to talk about this."

Brass jumped up and blocked the CSI from leaving his office, "I know I can't make you stay here and talk to me, but you have to admit, you need to talk to someone. Why not me? I'm your friend, Grissom and I want to help you. I know you and I know you can't just keep your problems all to yourself."

Grissom stared Brass down for another moment, before resigning and taking the seat in front of Brass' desk once more, "You're right."

"About?" Brass asked.

"Everything. I did see that girl as Sara. And I can't just keep bottling up my problems. But it's not easy for me to open up and talk to people," Grissom admitted.

"I know you're a very private person, but you can't just carry the whole world on your shoulders," Brass shook his head.

"When I walked in and saw her laying on the bathroom floor, I could have sworn it was Sara. Then when I saw Sara outside, it was just too bizarre. That's why I made her work the perimeter, I couldn't handle having her near me," Grissom went on, "I don't know why, but I just had to push myself to keep working. It was like if I left that crime scene…I don't know, but I couldn't leave."

"Gil, I know you care about Sara. And I know you know she cares about you. About what you said to Lurie, I know you were talking about Sara. So why can't you take that risk?" Brass asked.

"Look what happened when he took the risk. She ended up dumping him and he came to kill her and her new boyfriend," Grissom said flatly.

"You're not Lurie. And Sara's not Debbie. I think you should take a chance before it's too late. I heard that you turned her down for a dinner invitation back after the lab explosion," Brass leaned back in his chair.

Grissom shook his head, "You're right, I'm not Lurie. I can't take that chance. I don't know what I would do if things didn't work out and I hurt my career. It's all I have, Jim."

"Is that all you want for the rest of your life? Do you want to be a lonely man who only has his career? You won't be able to work here forever," Brass said, "what happens when you retire? You will be all alone."

Grissom took in a large breath and let it out before speaking, "I don't know. I don't know what to do. I need to go home and clear my head. I need to get some sleep, it's been a while."

"Go home then, get some rest and gather your thoughts. It's not healthy to work so many consecutive hours," Brass said, "you need to come back tomorrow refreshed."

Grissom rose wordlessly and felt in a bit of a daze as he left the police department and got into his SUV. He felt so exposed and he didn't know how Brass had managed to see what was bothering him so quickly. If Brass had noticed why he was so bothered by this case, everyone else was bound to notice it too. Catherine had probably sensed what was bothering him and that's why she hadn't pressed him to leave the scene. The way gossip traveled around the crime lab, probably everyone was talking about how Grissom had gone over the edge on this case. He honestly couldn't explain what it was that had drawn him to stay at the house for three full shifts, but he had done it and now it would likely be the talk of the lab. Everyone was also bound to hear that the victim looked like Sara and they would surely draw their own conclusions about why Grissom had acted as he had.

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Sara stood dumbfounded in the viewing room at the police department. All she could do was stare as Brass and the lawyer escorted Lurie out of the interrogation room. It was obvious that Grissom hadn't known she was there or he never would have said what he did to Lurie. The words "I just can't take that risk" played over and over in her mind. Grissom sat with his bowed for a few minutes in the interrogation room before he stood to leave. Sara froze as he walked out, praying he would walk past the viewing room and not see her there. She heard Brass call out Grissom's name and she thanked him silently.

Once she was sure Grissom was safely out of sight of the viewing room, Sara slipped out and made a beeline for her car. She managed to keep her composure long enough to escape the police department. She slipped into her SUV, put the keys in the ignition and then just sat there. As Grissom's words played in her mind again, she started to cry. She tried to wipe the tears away, but they just kept coming. Finally, she laid her head down on the steering wheel, letting the tears spill down her face freely.

Her head snapped up a few minutes later as she heard the engine of the vehicle next to her start. It was Grissom, but he didn't seem to even notice that she was there. She sat, staring into space for a little while, giving Grissom ample time to go wherever it was he was going. She eventually turned the keys in the ignition and drove back to the crime lab, stopping first at a public restroom to clean her face and hide any evidence that she had been crying.

"Hey Sara," Catherine greeted her, "how did the interrogation go?"

"Not so good. He didn't admit to anything and we didn't have sufficient evidence for an arrest. The cleanup job was too good, he destroyed any real evidence he left behind," Sara sighed.

"I hate it when we know the suspect is guilty, but we can't prove it," Catherine shook her head, "especially in a case like this. He murdered two people and he got to walk."

"That's the one part of this job that really bothers me," Sara agreed, "you know that the evidence tells you who did it, but it's enough to convince anyone else."

"So, wanna go out for drinks or something after work?" Catherine asked, sensing Sara was pretty upset.

"No, thanks, I think I'm just going straight home," Sara said, "I'm tired."

"I wonder if that's where Grissom went. Shift's almost over and if you're back from the PD, he should be too. You know he pulled a triple shift staying at that house? I finally had to go in and make sure he got something to eat. I bet he just went home to sleep. He works himself too hard sometimes," Catherine sighed.

"Yeah, Grissom does a lot of stupid things," Sara narrowed her eyes.

Catherine raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. Lately, Sara had nothing but negative comments for Grissom. It seemed all Sara wanted to do was argue with Grissom or complain about what he asked her to do. Catherine knew something had to have happened between the two of them because Sara was changing from the happy, Grissom-adoring woman she had been when she arrived in Las Vegas.

A/N: Yeah…still need a title. I have no idea on this one. It's still a work in progress, but I think I'm finally satisfied with this version of chapter one. I've been watching CSI Season Four on DVD and I didn't like how Butterflied ended with Sara just standing there and then next episode there's no mention of what Grissom said again. So I took it upon myself to write a story about it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

_Spoilers:_ This story takes directly after the episode Butterflied. In fact, if you haven't seen Butterflied, you'll probably be very confused.

**Chapter Two**

The next day, Sara Sidle did something she had never done in her time at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. She called in sick. She wasn't physically ill, but she was definitely sick. She hadn't gotten much sleep and all she could think about was what Grissom had said at the police department. She had spent the hours normally spent on sleep seriously rethinking her career. Maybe it was time for her to move on to another crime lab in a different city. Grissom had made it clear that she had no chance with him and she knew working around a person that she loved who didn't return the feelings would only make her more and more miserable.

Sara had been relieved when it was not Grissom who answered her call. She wouldn't have known how to handle herself if he had. Instead she told the receptionist to give her supervisor the message that she would not be coming in.

The more she thought about quitting her job, the more she liked the idea. She kept thinking of more reasons not to stay, most of them related to Grissom. She couldn't stay with a supervisor she didn't get along with and she didn't want to be moved onto another shift. She despised Conrad Ecklie of the dayshift and she'd still be bound to run into Grissom no matter which shift she worked. The thought did strike her that she'd miss the rest of the graveyard shift, but the thought of getting away from Grissom was very alluring.

About an hour into the shift she should be working, Sara's phone rang. She answered it warily, hoping it was anyone other than Gil Grissom.

"Sara, hi, it's Jim Brass," she was greeted with.

"Hello," she responded in surprise. He was just about the last person she had expected to be checking up on her.

"Are you okay?" Brass asked, "when Grissom told me you called in sick, I got a little worried because you never miss work."

"I have a little flu-bug or something, I'm feeling a little crappy. I figured it would be best to just stay home instead of spreading a virus around at work," Sara half-lied. She did feel crappy, but she didn't think she had the flu.

"This little flu wouldn't have anything to do with what a certain supervisor of yours said in the interrogation room yesterday, would it?" Brass inquired.

Sara gasped, "How did you know?"

"A uniformed officer saw you come out of the viewing room. You know how gossip gets around the police department just as fast as it does the lab," Brass explained, "and I thought I saw you just sitting in your car in the parking lot, staring off into outer space."

"I guess it does have a little bit to do with that," Sara confessed.

"I was afraid of that," Brass sighed, "if I had known you were in there, I would have stopped him."

"It's okay, I'm glad I heard it," Sara said, her voice wavering.

"Sara, don't," Brass started.

"No, I am," Sara cut him off, "it's good to know how he really feels. He never even acknowledged that he had feelings for me before. Now that I know he doesn't want to pursue them, I can move on."

"I hate to see you get hurt, sweetie," Brass said slowly, "are you going to be okay?"

"I have a lot to think about, but I think I'm going to be just fine," Sara lied.

"Don't be afraid to call me, if you need anything, Sara," Brass offered emphasizing the 'anything'.

"Thanks," Sara smiled at the offer, "it's really sweet of you to be concerned about me."

"I've known for quite a while that there was something between the two of you. At times I had to restrain myself from smacking Grissom over the head at how stupid and oblivious he was," Brass told her.

Sara laughed, "I guess I'm not the only one that notices that about him then."

"Nope, but I have to be going, I'm at my latest crime scene," Brass said, "remember if you need anything, call me."

"Goodbye," Sara said.

"Bye," Brass hung up.

Sara flopped down on her couch. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with herself. She wanted desperately to put some distance between herself and Grissom, but she couldn't just walk away from Vegas. Getting a headache, Sara decided it was time to take a sleeping pill so she could go lay down and get some sleep. She knew her thoughts would keep her awake if she didn't have some help.

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Greg Sanders was unsure of himself as he stood on Sara Sidle's doorstep. The truth was, he was sort of afraid of her. He finally decided it was stupid of him to be afraid and knocked on her door. When she saw that he was bringing her some soup, she couldn't be too upset at him for finding out where she lived. A very tired and frazzled looking Sara answered the door.

"Greg?" she was confused.

"I heard you were sick and I brought you some soup," Greg said quickly.

Sara stood in awe for a moment before opening her door so he could come inside. Greg himself was surprised at the invitation to come in. He didn't think anyone had ever actually been inside Sara's apartment before. From time to time, she had gotten rides home from the other CSIs, but no one had ever been invited inside that he knew of.

"This is really sweet of you, you didn't have to do this you know," Sara smiled.

"I know, I wanted to. You don't get sick very often," Greg reminded her, "I wanted to make sure you were okay. Most people forget to eat when they are sick."

"To be honest, I haven't eaten since yesterday," Sara told him, grabbing for the soup.

"Sit down, you're the one who's sick, I think I can manage to warm this up for you," Greg said, gesturing to her couch.

Not in the mood to argue, Sara took a seat and watched as Greg went into her kitchen. A few minutes later, Greg re-emerged with a spoon and the now warm soup. Sara took a bite of the soup and found it was really good.

"Where did you get this?" Sara asked.

"I made it myself," Greg grinned.

"It's really good. I didn't know you could cook, Greg," she complimented.

"I think I can do a lot of stuff that would amaze you," Greg laughed, "I am the unending source of knowledge aren't I?"

Sara nearly spit her bite of soup out, "I wouldn't go that far. You do know a lot of weird things, but your source of knowledge is bound to have its limits."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Greg admitted, "but still, I know a lot of things you'd be surprised at."

"I'm sure you do," Sara said, "are you going to sit down or are you planning to stand there all day?"

"I wasn't sure if you wanted me to stay or not," Greg said sheepishly as he sat across from her.

"You cared about me enough to bring me some soup, I wouldn't just kick you out Greggo," Sara smiled.

"How are you feeling?" Greg asked, suddenly remember the reason for his visit.

"Still bad, but a lot better than I felt last night when I called in," Sara said truthfully, "I may or may not be in tonight."

"Don't rush back to work, we're fine without you," Greg said, "I mean, not that I don't want you to come in. It's just, well, I got to go out on a case last night because you weren't there."

Sara laughed, "I'm already being replaced I see."

"It's not like you're never coming back, you're only missing a day or two of work," Greg said, "and I think if you had been there, I probably would have been stuck in my lab."

"I know how much you enjoy any field experience that you can get," Sara said.

"I'm looking forward to becoming a full-time CSI. I don't know if it's ever going to happen, but I'd like it," Greg told her.

"If Grissom didn't think you could be a good CSI, he wouldn't waste his time letting you do little bits of field work," Sara explained, "you just have to be patient and work your way up."

A/N: I suppose this doesn't really need to have a real title. I'm still drawing a blank on a title, so maybe it'll remain as it is. It gets the point across lol. Thanks for the reviews thus far.


	3. Chapter 3

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

_Spoilers:_ This story takes directly after the episode Butterflied. In fact, if you haven't seen Butterflied, you'll probably be very confused.

**Chapter Three**

The next night Sara made the decision to go to work. Even if she was going to quit and move elsewhere, she would have to give two weeks notice. She had decided that she at least look into other labs before she quit and had nowhere to work at all.

"Hey Sara, good to see you back," Nick greeted her when she walked into the lab.

"Hey Nicky," Sara gave him a half-hearted smile.

"You feeling okay?" Nick asked.

"I feel better than I felt last night," Sara replied.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question," Nick said, "you look…I don't know, but you don't look good. Are you sure you feel better?"

Sara sighed, "I still do feel a little sick, I suppose."

"Maybe you should have taken another night off, I mean, you have more than enough sick days coming to you. You don't want to work too hard and make yourself more sick," Nick looked her over.

"I'll be fine, I promise," Sara waved off his concern.

"Okay, but if you do start feeling more sick, don't be afraid to tell Grissom you need to go home," Nick said seriously.

"I'm a grown woman, Nicky, I think I can handle myself," Sara told him.

"See you later, Sara," Nick continued to wherever he had been going before he ran into Sara.

Sara watched as Nick walked away from her. It was becoming harder and harder for her to consider the idea of leaving Las Vegas. It was clear that her co-workers definitely cared about her. She may not like the idea of working with Grissom anymore, but she couldn't just walk away from the rest of her friends. She turned around and was heading for the break room when she spotted Grissom coming around the corner. She quickly ducked into the locker room, not wanting to speak to him right now. She hoped that Grissom hadn't seen her and that he wouldn't be in a talkative mood tonight. Of course he still had no idea that she'd overheard him, but she was still not in the mood to be friendly with him.

Grissom had apparently not seen Sara or if he did, he didn't want to talk to her because he just continued to his office. Sara was relieved that he apparently wasn't in the mood to talk either. She sat down on the bench in front of her locker and enjoyed the silence.

"Hiding from someone?" Catherine's question caused Sara to jump.

"Sort of," Sara replied.

"Who?" Catherine inquired.

"It doesn't matter," Sara stood up, "I'm leaving."

"Sara, stay, please," Catherine caught her arm.

"Cath, I'm sorry but I'm really not in the mood for talking," Sara sighed.

"I know something has been bothering you. I sensed you were really upset the other day when you turned down my drink offer," Catherine started, "I'd like to think I'm a friend of yours and that you can talk to me."

Sara sighed, "It's too complicated."

"If it has to do with that victim looking like you, I can understand," Catherine said, "I know you said you didn't really look at her face, but you must have seen the resemblance."

"No, no it's not her," Sara said, " that was a little unnerving, but that really didn't bother me. It did a little at the time, but I'm over that."

"I know what it is," Catherine suddenly realized, "I didn't put much thought into it at the time, but now I realize what the problem is. This has to do with Grissom, I knew he must have done something to upset you because of how you said 'he does a lot of stupid things'."

Sara gave Catherine a funny look, "How is it that you know that?"

"Come on, Sara, I know you have feelings for Grissom or at least you used to. Lately it seems like you're doing everything possible to avoid him though. Then you came back from that interrogation and I had the feeling something happened between you there," Catherine told her.

"You want to know the truth?" Sara asked.

"If you want to tell me," Catherine said.

"I asked Grissom out to dinner after the lab explosion and he turned me down. Since then, things have been awkward between us," Sara told her.

"About that, I think I know why he turned you down. Grissom hasn't told this to anyone else, but he was losing his hearing. At around the time of the explosion, it was getting bad enough that he finally realized he would need corrective surgery. I'm pretty sure he turned you down because he had to go see his doctor," Catherine explained.

"I never knew that," Sara shook her head, "but when he was questioning Dr. Lurie I was in the viewing room. I don't think anyone knew I was in there. When the interrogation was a bust, Grissom started speaking to Lurie. He said how it was interesting how similar they were, a couple of middle-aged guys who had spent all their lives on their work. He said he could never take a risk like Dr. Lurie had and ask out the young girl who came along and was willing to give him a new life."

Catherine was shocked, "What did you do?"

"What could I do? I just stood there and couldn't move. When he was gone, I slipped out of the viewing room and came back here," Sara started to cry in spite of herself.

"Oh Sara, I'm so sorry," Catherine hugged her.

"So when I didn't come in last night, I wasn't sick, at least not in the way that everyone thought," Sara sighed, "I was seriously considering giving my letter of resignation. Then Brass called to check up on me and Greg came over to see me after shift. I realized I couldn't just walk away from here. You guys are like my family."

"I'm glad you don't want to leave Sara, I know you and I have had our differences before, but you are a good friend. I'd hate for you to leave because of Grissom," Catherine said, "I don't understand him sometimes. I know he's crazy about you, but he won't admit it to himself I guess."

"It's okay though, he's never admitted to me that he had feelings before. And while he didn't technically say it to me, I am glad to know the way he really feels. I am tired of this dance I have been doing with Grissom and now I feel free to move on," Sara explained.

Catherine stated, "He has just never been a very openly emotional person. I've known him for a really long time and I still don't know much about his life. I hated that he was always pushing you away. I wanted to force him to go out with you, but there's no talking sense into him when it comes to love."

"It's okay. I feel like I got some sort of closure and I'm going to be able to move on and maybe try dating outside work," Sara said.

"Well good luck with it," Catherine sighed as Sara left. She knew that Sara's words were probably not true. She was understandably upset with Grissom, and there had been some anger in her words, but she knew that Sara loved Grissom. It was much easier said than done when it came to forgetting about him. She wished there was some way for her to make Grissom see what he was doing to Sara. He was driving everyone crazy in the way he avoided her. Everyone in the lab saw that there was clearly something in the way those two looked at each other when they thought no one else was looking.

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Grissom had seen Sara slip into the locker room earlier and he had been glad she didn't appear to see him. He was still not sure what to say to her. Brass' words had given him a lot to think about. He had been secretly relieved when Sara had called in to work the previous night. Not that he was happy that Sara was sick, he was just glad he didn't have to think of ways to avoid her for the night. He knew that realistically, he was going to have to come to a decision and then speak to her like an adult. It was pretty childish to just continue to ignore that there was something was between them. He hadn't made it easy for Sara, turning down her dinner invitation and pretty much avoiding being alone with her. He hated hurting her and he did it frequently. Sara was always looking too much into his words and actions and he just continued to play dumb. He saw what he was doing, but he couldn't change his ways.

When it came time to hand out assignments, he headed for the break room. His entire shift was waiting for him and Greg was just on his way out of the break room to return to his lab.

"Good evening guys," Grissom said, "I have your assignments for tonight. Warrick and Sara, you two have a DB at the Sphere, Brass will meet you there. Catherine you have a missing person in Henderson. Nick, you and I are on a convenience store robbery."

The CSIs split up and headed off to their respective vehicles, talking and happy as usual. Except for Sara, she seemed to be a little quiet. Grissom attributed it to her still being sick. She was pushing herself too hard as usual, showing up to work when she should still be at home in bed. He found himself thinking about her once again and nearly didn't see Nick pause in front of him.

"You okay, Gris?" Nick asked.

"Hmm. Oh yeah. I was just thinking about something else. You driving or am I?" Grissom asked quickly changing the subject.

"I don't care, it's up to you," Nick said.

"Okay, I'll drive then," Grissom replied, thinking that it would give him something to do and keep his mind of Sara at least temporarily.

A/N: Well the writers of CSI know how to make me mad. I can't believe that Sara and Grissom were only on the show for a minute or two! Especially after what she said to him…they better be on the next episode, lol…now I'm threatening people…anyway, don't expect another chapter for a couple days. I'm moving back in at school and classes start Tuesday so I'll be busy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter Four**

"Are you planning on sitting there all night?" Warrick asked.

"Oh, wow, you drive fast," Sara quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and slipped out of the SUV before more questions could be asked.

"I didn't speed or anything, you just kind of zoned out there," Warrick raised his eyebrows, "you sure you're okay?"

"I'm all right. I guess I'm still a little foggy from the cold medicine I took last night, but I'll be fine once we get to our scene," Sara assured him.

"Okay. If you're still sick, maybe you should go home," Warrick suggested.

"No, I'm not that sick. I'll be okay when I have something to concentrate on. Riding in a car is just sort of monotonous," Sara explained.

"Hey Warrick, Sara," Brass greeted them, "how you doing?"

"I'm okay," Sara gave him a look that told him to be quiet.

"Right, the vic is a 40 year old male. His girlfriend found him in their hotel room," Brass led the two CSIs toward the hotel.

Sara took a deep breath and cleared her mind of all thoughts of Grissom on the elevator ride to the floor where there victim was. She had to just focus on work right now and it would be a lot of work pretending that everything was normal. She followed Brass and Warrick down the hall to a room where there was a uniformed police officer standing. They entered to find a man who had his throat slit and there was blood all over the place.

"This looks fun," Sara sighed.

"Obviously the first impression is that COD was exsanguination due to the slit to the throat," David popped his head up when the CSIs entered the room, "liver temp puts death at seven hours ago."

"Thank you, David," Warrick said, pulling out his camera to start snapping pictures of the body before David took it away.

"I'm going to go get a statement from the girlfriend," Sara decided.

"Okay, come back here when you're done, I'm sure I'll still be working on this," Warrick gestured to the bloody mess.

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Now it was Grissom's turn to feel sick. He had decided he needed to talk to Sara. Brass had been right about things. Grissom didn't want to die a lonely old man, there was no real reason that he couldn't be with Sara. It was ridiculous for him to be so unhappy and alone when Sara was right in front of him. He tapped his hands nervously on his desk, not able to concentrate on his paperwork. He kept checking the clock so he would not miss the end of shift. He wanted to catch Sara before she left.

The second shift was over, Grissom couldn't wait anymore. He went toward the break room, hoping to spot Sara. Greg, Nick and Warrick were there, but not Sara. He breezed past the room, not even pausing when Greg had said hello. He was on a mission to find Sara and nothing would stop him. He had to speak to her before he chickened out. He turned into the locker room and froze when he heard Catherine and Sara talking.

"Wanna join the rest of us for breakfast?" Catherine was asking.

Grissom stayed just outside the room, knowing he really should not be listening in.

"I don't know. I was going to just head back to my place. I'm pretty tired," Sara yawned.

"Are you sure?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, I'm not in the mood today," Sara sighed.

"If you're worried about Grissom, we didn't invite him," Catherine said.

There was a silent moment before Sara spoke, "Well…I guess I could go then."

"Good, it'll be fun," Catherine stood and closed her locker.

Grissom's jaw dropped and he quickly walked away before he was spotted spying on the girls. He was a little upset that he was not invited to their breakfast, but not entirely surprised. Lately, all he did was turn down offers of going out. What really hurt him was the fact that Sara was going along because he was not. Maybe he had made the wrong decision after all. He slipped into his office, closed the door and sat at his desk without even turning the light on. He put his head down on the cool desk and let his mind process the conversation he'd overheard again.

A knock on his door startled Grissom and he nearly fell off his chair, "Uh, come in."

"Okay, what's going on?" Brass asked suspiciously, fumbling for the light switch.

"Nothing," Grissom said straightening up and blinking in the sudden brightness.

"Right, nothing's going on. You always hang out in your office with the lights on, silly me," Brass said sarcastically, "come on, Gil, what's wrong?"

Grissom sighed, "I just had a long day. That's all."

"You know you're a terrible liar? This have anything to do with a certain female CSI?" Brass asked.

"How do you do that?" Grissom shook his head.

"Do what?" Brass was confused.

"How on earth can you tell what's bothering me all the time?" Grissom snapped.

"I've known you for a long time. Sometimes I make a wild guess and I'm right. The rest of the time, it's related to Sara," Brass explained.

Grissom pursed his lips, trying to decide if he should repeat the conversation he'd just heard, "I've been thinking about Sara nonstop since the other day. I want to talk to her, but I can't catch her alone. I don't want the whole lab to know I'm talking to her because they're all too nosy as it is."

"I see," Brass said, "she usually comes in early. Catch her before shift tomorrow."

"You're right, but it seemed like as soon as I was ready to talk to her, she was avoiding me," Grissom told him.

"It's probably your imagination," Brass stated, not wanting to tell him that Sara had overheard him. That would just freak him out and Brass didn't want him to change his mind about talking to Sara. He needed to just do it and whatever "it" was that he decided needed to be taken care of.

"Probably. Did you need anything else?" Grissom asked.

"No, I just thought it was odd that you were in here with the lights off," Brass stood, sensing Grissom wanted to be alone, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Jim," Grissom sighed and decided to work on the mountain of paperwork that he had let slip for nearly a week while. He'd stayed at their crime scene for shifts and then he had been too busy thinking about Sara and working his latest case to actually get any work done.

A/N: Just so you know, I did not drop off theface of the earth!I had intended to post this chapter on Sunday night or Monday, but there has been no internet access. I finally have access restored to my computer so I can upload more chapters. I may or may not post another chapter soon. CSI is on tonight and so is ER, so I may not have time to get online and post another chapter. So sorry for the delay, it was making me very angry. Thanks again for your wonderful reviews, they always make my day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter Five**

The next day, sure enough Sara was at work early. Grissom spotted her heading into the locker room and a few minutes later he casually strolled in. She glanced at him briefly and continued whatever it was she was fiddling with in her locker. Grissom wanted desperately to remain cool and calm as he leaned casually against the locker next to hers.

"Are you actually going to talk or just stand there staring at me all day?" Sara snapped after a few moments of silence.

Grissom had to suppress a laugh as he spoke, "Sorry. I didn't mean to just stare at you like that. I want to talk to you…in my office or something so no one can eavesdrop."

Sara checked her watch, "I guess we've got time before shift."

Grissom was somewhat relieved as they headed out of the locker room and towards his office. She hadn't flat out refused his offer to talk, something he had been deathly afraid of since the conversation he'd overheard between her and Catherine. She didn't exactly seem happy at the prospect of being alone with him in his office, but she wasn't looking for a way to escape either. Once they were situated with the door closed, Grissom was trying to work up the nerve to speak.

"I thought you said you wanted to talk," Sara said impatiently.

"I do, I'm sorry. It's just that it's going to take a lot for me to say this right," Grissom closed his eyes, "please tell me you'll just hear me out?"

Sara scowled slightly, "I guess so."

"I've been doing a lot of thinking the past few days. The case with Debbie Marlin and Dr. Lurie has caused me a lot of stress," Grissom started.

"Because the vic looked like me?" Sara asked, "if that's what it was, I know. Everyone has told me that. I'm okay with it."

"I guess part of it is because of that, but this isn't so much about you as it is about me," Grissom said, "when I saw her in that bathroom, I could have sworn it was you, Sara. You have no idea what kind of emotions that put me through. Every time I saw you or talked to you for the next couple days, it was just bizarre. Seeing her laying there and thinking it was you made me realize that I do have feelings for you. I have never told you that before, but I do care about you Sara."

"That's just great," Sara looked ready to cry.

"What?" Grissom was confused, "are you okay?"

"You don't know do you?" Sara shook her head, "I was in the viewing room when you interrogated Dr. Lurie. I heard everything you said…about not being able to take the risk."

Grissom was dumbfounded. He had no idea that Sara had overheard all that. Suddenly his words replayed in his head and he realized in horror what Sara must be thinking. He didn't know what to say to her.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything else, I get it," Sara stood up, "you don't want to have a life with me. And you know what? I'm fine with it now."

Grissom stared after her, frantically trying to say something to make her stop. Before he could say a word though, she was gone. He sat frozen at his desk, unsure of what to do with himself. He couldn't get over the fact that she'd heard his speech to Dr. Lurie. No wonder she had called in sick the other night, she had to be sick after hearing him say all that. The worst part was that he was about to admit to her that he loved her so much he was willing to take a risk. Now she was angry with him and he didn't know where she would go to hide.

-----------------------

Sara was less than pleased when Grissom had managed to corner her in the locker room. She followed him reluctantly to his office, but was afraid of what he might have to say. She promised she'd let him say whatever it was he wanted, but once he started talking about that case, she couldn't stand it anymore. She was afraid she was going to start crying in front of Grissom and that was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want him to rehash speech to her, she was trying to get over him, but it was still a tender subject. She ran out of the crime lab and sat in her car once again, breathing hard and gripping the steering wheel.

She was startled when someone knocked on her window. It was Catherine, looking very concerned. Sara opened her door to see what Catherine wanted.

"You okay, Sara?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah," Sara lied.

"You look like something happened to you, you sure you're all right?" Catherine asked again.

Sara sighed, "Grissom wanted to talk to me. I couldn't say no, so I went into his office and when he started talking, I freaked out. I had the feeling he was about to repeat what he said to Dr. Lurie, so I told him I already heard it. Then I ran out here."

"Sara," Catherine started, "I don't know what to tell you."

Sara shook her head, "I should have stayed and listened to him, but I can't hear that again. I want to get over him and I couldn't break down in front of him."

"Do you want me to go talk to him?" Catherine offered.

"No, you don't have to. Just leave me alone for a few minutes and I'll be okay," Sara said, "but thanks for the offer."

"Okay, and if you need to talk later, you know I'm here for you," Catherine told her.

"Thanks," Sara managed a half smile.

Catherine's heart broke for Sara. She _said_ she was getting over Grissom, but her heart was clearly not getting over him. She had been hurt several times, too many times and she wanted to move on. It was clear that her heart was not with her head on this one. Catherine decided she would have to say something to Grissom despite what Sara said she wanted. She found Grissom in his office, staring at his tarantula.

"Gil," she knocked gently.

"Oh Cath, hi," he jumped as he turned around.

"Are you okay?" Catherine's anger suddenly melted away when she saw his face.

"I'm not in the mood to talk," Grissom said honestly.

Catherine was confused now, "I just ran into Sara outside…what's going on?"

Grissom closed his eyes, "I was about to tell her something, but she ran out of here before I had a chance."

"What were you going to say?" Catherine asked, "was it something like what you said to Lurie?"

Grissom's eyes shot open, "How does everyone know that?"

"You know what the rumor mill is like," Catherine crossed her arms.

"I was going to tell her that I have spent a lot of time thinking about it and she deserves for me to give her a chance. I do care about her and it kills me when I hurt her," Grissom said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"She thinks you were going to tell her to face what you said to Dr. Lurie," Catherine gasped.

"No, not even close. When she told me she heard that, I froze. I had no idea she heard that. I never meant for her to hear that. I couldn't say anything to it because my words kept replaying in my head and I wanted to just go back and never say it again," Grissom said shakily.

"Gil, go find her and tell her that, she needs to know that you do love her. Right now she's very upset and she says she's over you, but I know she's not. I can see it in her eyes that she's still desperately in love with you," Catherine said.

"Where is she?" Grissom asked, knowing Catherine was right.

"Out in the parking lot," Catherine stepped aside so he could go out to see her.

"Thanks Cath," Grissom quickly kissed her cheek and made his way determinedly toward the parking lot.

Grissom stepped out of the crime lab and saw Sara sitting alone her car. He approached her car and slipped in the passenger's seat before Sara could protest.

A/N: :O A cliffhanger! Oh no! Don't worry, the next chapter will be coming soon. I thought CSI was new this week for some reason so I was disappointed when it was a rerun. :P I guess it was a good thing though because the girl from down the hall was in here talking for most of the episode.


	6. Chapter 6

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter Six**

"Grissom, I don't want to talk to you right now," Sara said, "please get out of my car."

"No Sara, please, I know you're very upset with me, but please, please let me say this," Grissom pleaded.

Sara crossed her arms, "I don't see why I should, but I guess go ahead."

"Thank you so much," Grissom sighed with relief, "I think you misunderstood what I wanted to say to you before."

"I think I understood it perfectly," Sara turned and paused when she saw those pleading blue eyes, "…I'm sorry. I'll let you finish what you wanted to say."

"I know what I said to Dr. Lurie and at the time I believed it. Then Brass cornered me and told me I should seriously rethink things. So the last few days I have done a lot of serious thinking. I have been letting things at work slip, you should see my mountain of paperwork," Grissom almost laughed, "anyway, my point is I know what to do about 'this' now."

"What are we going to do about 'this' then?" Sara asked, suddenly realizing she had misjudged his intentions.

"This is really hard for me," Grissom sucked in a shaky breath, "Sara, I love you. You are amazing, smart and beautiful. I realize now that I've been silly and stubborn. I know you care about me, don't think I didn't notice it and I'm sorry that I've hurt you. I think we should give 'this' a chance. I want to give this a chance, tell me I'm not too late."

Sara didn't know what to say for a moment, "You're not too late."

"I'm not?" Grissom's eyebrows shot up.

"I said I was ready to move on and get over you, but I'm not. I love you so much," Sara smiled, "I know this might not be the easiest thing for either one of us. I've never really been in a relationship for more than a few months at a time. I'm going to be scared and unsure of myself too."

"I've never really seriously dated anyone," Grissom admitted, "I never thought anyone was right for me. But when you came to Vegas…I just…I knew you were the one…I couldn't bring myself to admit it to you though. I'm sorry that I'm so set in my ways and I was afraid to change."

"It's not entirely your fault, I mean I asked you to dinner once and you said no, so I never tried again," Sara said.

"About that," Grissom was smiling now, "I didn't turn you down because I was mad at you. I'm sure that's the way it seemed, but it was about me. I was losing my hearing. I have otosclerosis, the same disease my mother has. I was finally at the point where my hearing was seriously effecting my work. I was at the point where I needed to tell myself it was getting bad enough to see the doctor about surgery. A few days later, I went in and had surgery, my hearing has been back for a while now. I'm sorry that I had to turn you down. After I came back to work, I had completely forgotten your dinner offer because I had been so wrapped in myself. I think that's the only time in my life I have been so concerned about myself."

"You had surgery and you didn't bother to tell anyone?" Sara was incredulous.

"Well, I didn't want to admit that I was losing it. I did tell Catherine, but I think she understood at the time that I didn't want to tell anyone else," Grissom said.

"You could have told me that and I would have understood your turning me down," Sara was now letting her tears flow freely.

"I should have told you. I didn't even want to tell Catherine, she figured it out. I thought someone had to know where I was going anyway, I couldn't just disappear for a while and think no one would notice," Grissom reached out to brush away Sara's tears.

"So, what do we do now?" Sara asked, leaning into his touch.

"I don't know," Grissom slid over and took her into his arms, "but let's figure it out together."

"Okay," Sara whispered from his shoulder.

Grissom was thoroughly enjoying the feeling of Sara in his arms. Her body was so warm and inviting, he'd longed to do this for so long. He gently wiped the tears from her face and kissed the top of her head. Sara pulled away from Grissom and placed a kiss on his lips.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," she whispered shyly when she pulled away.

---------------------------------------------

"Hey Sara, how are you doing?" Brass caught Sara behind her SUV as she was grabbing her field kit to join Nick in their crime scene.

"I'm better now, I promise you," Sara told him.

"Are you sure or are you just saying that?" Brass asked.

"I'm really okay, I talked to Grissom before shift," Sara said, "and I think things will work out between us."

"Good," Brass smiled, "I'm glad to hear it."

"Thanks for talking to him," Sara said as Brass turned to leave.

"You know about that?" Brass asked.

"I didn't know for sure until just now. I figured someone spoke to him, he hasn't done anything on his own yet," Sara leaned on her vehicle.

"Yeah, he needed a push in the right direction. I think he needed for someone else to make him realize he needed to act. I don't know if he realized that everyone else knew that he had feelings for you," Brass explained.

"Well I'm glad you did," Sara gave him a quick hug.

"I'm just watching out for you, you're a good woman, Sara," Brass said.

"Thank you," Sara saw that Nick was coming to look for her.

"Better go before your partner there gets upset," Brass told her.

Sara grabbed her field kit and jogged over to where Nick was waiting for her.

"Have an interesting conversation with Brass?" Nick asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did," Sara said.

"I was just wondering what happened to you. You said you'd be right behind me and then you never came in," Nick explained.

"I just haven't seen him in a while. He was making sure I was over my flu," Sara told him.

"I guess everyone around here looks out for you, huh?" Nick asked.

"It sure seems that way," Sara smiled, "did you know Greg brought me soup the night I missed work?"

"No I didn't," Nick raised his eyebrows.

"I thought it was really sweet. It's good to know that everyone cares about me so much," Sara said.

A/N: Here you go. I told you it wouldn't be too long before I posted the next chapter. The chapter after this may not come until Sunday night because I'm heading home for the weekend and I'll be doing a bunch of running around. If I have the time, I'll post it sooner.


	7. Chapter 7

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter Seven**

A couple days after Grissom and Sara had spoke, she was on a case with Catherine in the mountains somewhere. Grissom was once again sitting at his desk and catching up on paperwork. Anymore, it seemed he had a hard time keeping up with it, not so much because of the volume of papers he had to fill out but more because his mind was constantly on Sara. They had arranged for a dinner date before shift at the end of the week and Grissom was a little nervous.

Grissom's cell phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts, "Grissom."

"Gil, it's me Cath, I don't want you to worry, but there was a little accident, they're taking Sara to Desert Palm," Catherine blurted.

"What?" Grissom nearly dropped his phone.

"She's going to be fine, Grissom, I promise," Catherine said calmly.

"What happened?" Grissom managed to ask.

"Look, I have to go, I'm sorry, but meet me at the hospital, I'll explain everything there," Catherine said, "she's going to be okay, remember that."

"See you at the hospital then," Grissom hung up. He couldn't move from his seat for a few minutes, his mind was paralyzed. Something had happened to Sara and his mind couldn't process rational thoughts fast enough.

Grissom was amazed at how many fears he managed to entertain on his short drive to the hospital. He knew Catherine said Sara was going to be just fine, but his mind still let him get himself worked up. He worried that something serious had happened and Catherine had told him otherwise so he wouldn't panic. It wasn't working because he was definitely freaking out. About half way to the hospital, he got pulled over.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't realize you were with the PD," the officer said when he ran Grissom's license plates, "where are you going so fast? And why didn't you put your lights on?"

"One of my CSIs was injured at a crime scene, I'm on my way to the hospital," Grissom said hurriedly.

"All right, I'm going to let you go, sir, but please slow it down a little," the officer stepped away.

Grissom took a couple of calming breaths and managed to drive the speed limit for the rest of the way to the hospital. When he got there he found the first available parking space and ran to the emergency room without hardly taking the time to get his seatbelt off.

"Hello, sir, how may I help you?" the woman at the admissions desk asked.

"I'm here for Sara Sidle," Grissom told her breathlessly.

"Okay, just a minute and I'll look up the name," the woman typed something on her keyboard, "I'm sorry, sir, but there's no one here by that name."

"Are you sure? She's a CSI, I got a call saying that there was an accident at a crime scene and she was on her way here," Grissom explained worriedly.

"Oh, I think I know what you're talking about, her ETA is about five minutes from now, you can wait in the waiting area over there," the woman gestured to rows of plastic chairs.

"Thank you," Grissom spun around and found an empty seat. A million thoughts were swirling through his mind and his heart was pounding. He barely noticed when the doors flew open and Sara was brought in on a stretcher.

"Grissom?" she called out.

"Sara! Oh my God," Grissom jumped up, "are you okay?"

Sara nearly laughed, "I guess Catherine didn't have time to tell you what happened?"

"No," Grissom was thoroughly confused.

"There was a mini-rock slide and my foot got smashed under a rock, I'm fine, but my foot is broken," Sara explained as the paramedics wheeled her out of sight.

Catherine came into the emergency room a few minutes later and nearly ran into Grissom, "Gil, you're here."

"Yeah, they just brought Sara in a few minutes ago," Grissom said, "what exactly happened out there?"

"Let's go sit down," Catherine pulled him towards the waiting area, "you know our crime scene was in the mountains, right?"

"Yes," Grissom nodded, "I'm the one that assigned you."

"Well it rained last night, so apparently a lot of the rocks are loose. Sara and I were working on our scene and we heard a weird noise. It was a bunch of rocks tumbling down the side of the mountain. We both managed to get clear of the path pretty much, but one stray rock came and landed right on Sara's foot. I'm pretty sure it's broken, but like I told you, she's okay," Catherine explained, "it was really a freak accident."

"Good, I was so worried," Grissom visibly relaxed, "I had no idea what happened to her. Your call only served to scare me. You have no idea what sort of thoughts ran through my head."

"I'm sorry, Gil," Catherine patted his arm, "I had to gather all of Sara's field kit once the ambulance arrived and I wanted to get going."

-------------------------------------

"Hey Gris," Sara smiled at him from her hospital bed.

"It's so good to see you," he approached the bed.

"Were you worried about me?" Sara asked.

"Very much," Grissom sighed, "I was so scared when Catherine called me and said 'there's been a little accident'. I feared the worst."

"I'm fine," Sara assured him, "the cast on my foot will slow me down for a little while, but I'll be good to go."

"I'm glad you're okay," Grissom sat down.

"You were really upset, weren't you?" Sara could see it in his eyes, so she reached out to hold his hand, "it's okay. I wasn't seriously hurt and Catherine helped me ice my foot until the ambulance arrived."

"I don't know why I got so upset, it was just the way she called me I guess. You know I almost got a speeding ticket on my way to the hospital," Grissom chuckled nervously.

"Well I'm glad you were so worried about me," Sara smiled.

"You have no idea," Grissom leaned in to kiss her, "when will you be getting out of here?"

"As soon as they get back with my crutches and release forms," Sara explained.

"Since you're obviously going to be off for the rest of the night, would you like me to take you home, help you get settled in?" Grissom asked.

"Don't you have to get back to work?" Sara started.

"No, I mean, I think Cath, Nick and Warrick can handle the rest of the night by themselves," Grissom told her, "and you might need some help."

"Okay," Sara agreed, "I hate to make you miss work though."

"Sara, you are more important to me than work, I finally have my priorities set straight," Grissom said firmly.

"I'm impressed, you really are changing, Gris," Sara grinned.

"I said I needed to work on changing and I am a man of my word," Grissom told her.

A/N: I have a little more time on my hands than I thought I would. Last night, I nearly broke my toe, so I didn't end up doing a whole lot today. I hope you enjoy this latest installment.


	8. Chapter 8

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter Eight**

Sara was forced to take two weeks of paid medical leave. She was not very happy at having to take so much time off work. It was sort of ironic though because only days before she was ready to quit. She had to find ways to entertain herself for 14 days. Grissom helped her to get settled into her apartment and made sure she would be able to get around on her crutches.

"I think I'm getting used to these," Sara turned around once more, "but remind me not to break my foot again. I can't believe they are making me take two weeks off."

"Well, no offense, hon, but you won't be of much help in your condition," Grissom explained.

"I now, but still, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself for two whole weeks," Sara sighed, "wait, did you just call me hon?"

"Uh, yes I believe I did, why?" Grissom asked, "is that okay?"

"It's fine," Sara flashed him a smile, "it's just that I'm not used to it. I like it though."

"Are you still going to want to go on our date Friday?" Grissom asked, "because if you don't want to go I understand…"

"Gris, stop, I still want to go," Sara grabbed his arm and squeezed it, "just calm down."

"I can't help it, I'm nervous," Grissom shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't be nervous, it's just you, me and a dinner, nothing to be afraid of," Sara stroked his arm gently.

Grissom lowered his head briefly, "You're right. I don't know why I'm so nervous."

"Is it because you think people might see us?" Sara asked.

"Maybe," Grissom said slowly, "I don't really think so. But that does remind me, what are we going to do at work? Should we tell everyone that we are dating?"

"Are you kidding?" Sara laughed, "they already know."

"Right, the rumor mill, how could I forget," Grissom rolled his eyes.

"Is there a policy against it?" Sara asked suddenly.

"Not exactly, but I'm sure they will frown upon it," Grissom said, "maybe I should go to Cavallo before he has a chance to come to me."

"If you think that's a good idea," Sara raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, I'll have all day to think about it though," Grissom said.

"Whatever you decide to do, let me know how it goes," Sara said.

"You'll be the first to know," Grissom smiled at her.

Sara decided at this point to try to sit down. It was a big mistake as she tried to gracefully sit down and place her crutches next to the couch. Instead, she dropped a crutch on her still sore foot, causing her to gasp in pain. Grissom reached forward and steadied her a she nearly fell over and helped onto the couch.

"Well that was smooth," Sara blushed when she was situated.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that happened," Grissom winked.

"Thanks," Sara laughed.

"You'll get more used to it after a few days. And your foot will probably stop hurting after a while and you'll forget why there's a cast on your foot at all," Grissom said.

"I hope you are right, but I don't think I'll ever forget getting my foot crushed in a rock slide," Sara shook her head.

"You're lucky that's all that happened," Grissom said.

"I know, I feel really lucky. If Cath hadn't yelled at me to move, I might not be here. If one of those things hit me in the head…" she trailed off.

"Try not to think about that," he replied softly, "I don't know what I'd do if that happened."

They fell silent and Grissom placed an arm gently around her shoulders. She leaned into him and enjoyed the comfortable warmth of his body. She focused on the up and down movement of his chest with his breathing. The combination of the night's events and the pain killers she was on caught up with her and she fell asleep within a few minutes.

---------------------------------

Grissom knocked on Director Cavallo's door the next shift, unsure of just what he was going to say.

"Come in," Cavallo called out.

"Hello," Grissom greeted him in a business tone.

"Gil Grissom, you must have read my mind. I wanted to talk to you," Cavallo sat his pen down.

"What did you want to talk about?" Grissom asked.

"I should ask you the very same question, you did come to my office," Cavallo raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but you go first, I'm sure whatever you have is more important," Grissom sat down.

"All right. I want to talk to you about CSI Sidle," Cavallo began.

"Okay," Grissom returned, "what do you want to say?"

"I understand she was involved in an accident last night," Cavallo stated, "and you put her in for two weeks medical leave?"

"Yes I did. The doctors told her she would have to use crutches for a few weeks and I figured she would not be able to work with crutches," Grissom explained.

"Fair enough," Cavallo placed his hands on the desk, "but that's not what I _really_ want to talk to you about. I know that there are a lot of rumors that swirl around and I don't know which ones are true and which ones are made up."

"If you heard a rumor that Sara and I are going to be dating, it's true, that's why I came here," Grissom cut him off.

"Yes, that is what I was going to get at," Cavallo said, "I know there's not exactly a policy against it, but I don't think it's a very good idea, Gil."

"I know, you're worried that people will think that I'm giving Sara preferential treatment because I'm the supervisor, but I promise you, we will remain 100 percent professional on the job," Grissom said.

"Sure, you say that now, but in the future, suppose you two are left alone at a crime scene, who knows what might happen," Cavallo tented his fingers.

Grissom sighed, "I have more respect for Sara than to allow something to happen at work, especially at a crime scene."

"I'm sure you do, Gil, but you never know until you're under those circumstances," Cavallo countered.

"I know myself and I know Sara. I know that neither of us will let things get out of hand at work," Grissom argued, "besides, what do you propose? If you want me to step down as supervisor, I'm willing to do that."

Cavallo was slightly taken aback, "I don't think we need to any drastic actions here, Gil. I just don't want to have problems. You certainly don't need to resign your position. I just mean that if I hear complaints about your situation, I might be forced to take disciplinary actions."

"You won't be hearing any complaints, at least not from my team. Conrad, on the other hand, is a different story, but you can't believe all that you hear from him," Grissom leaned back in his chair.

"Okay, well I hope that Sidle recovers from her injuries," Cavallo said, "I'll be seeing you around, Gil."

"Yes," Grissom stood and left. As he walked away from the director's office, he had a hard time believing the conversation that had just taken place. His heart was beating fast and he was amazed that he had been so assertive about this. He knew that this meant he and Sara were really doing the right thing. This was going to be good for both of them. He quickly dialed Sara's number on his cell phone and told her the good news.

A/N: Thanks as always for the reviews. I always enjoy reading your reviews. I hope you all enjoy reading my story. The good news is, I didn't manage to break my toe. The other night, I dropped a big board on my toe. Somehow the corner of it caught only one toe, I couldn't have done a better job of it had I aimed. Lol. Anyway, my toe is bruised very badly, but otherwise seems to be okay.


	9. Chapter 9

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter Nine**

Sara was startled awake by the ringing of her doorbell. She was not expecting to be in her living room and fell off the couch. Suddenly she remembered the previous evening she had fallen asleep on her couch with Grissom there. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was shortly after noon. Cursing at the pain in her foot, she called out that she'd be right there. She somehow managed to struggle to her feet, stumbling to find the crutches. She had no idea how she looked, but she had to get to the door because whoever was there had been waiting for several minutes by now.

"Are you Sara Sidle?" a man asked.

"Yes," she replied suspiciously.

"Then these," he produced a bouquet of beautiful flowers, "are for you."

"Who sent these?" Sara asked.

"I don't know, ma'am, there is a card with them. Have a nice day," the deliveryman left.

Sara closed her door and carried the flowers to her kitchen where she found a vase. She filled it with water and put the flowers in it and set them on her dinner table. She found the card and pulled it out.

"_Sara,_

_I know these flowers won't make the fact that you have to take two weeks off work any better, but I hope you enjoy them anyway. I picked them out myself, I know how you like plants and such._

_Grissom_."

Sara smiled and placed the card back into it's plastic clip in the flowers. Never in her life had anyone sent her flowers before. There was the one time when Grissom sent her a plant, but that had been different. These were the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen, probably because she was in love with the man who sent them.

After she had eaten lunch, she had to try to figure out what to do. She was not allowed to shower for another day and she didn't think that would be such a good idea anyway. She turned on her TV and found out that there was absolutely nothing worth watching on TV in the daytime. She gave up on that and decided to take a nap. She was still used to the work schedule of sleeping in the daytime.

----------------------------------------

Grissom had tried calling Sara twice in the afternoon. He hoped she was only asleep or something and not in any trouble. He decided it would be a good idea to stop by her place for a while before work anyway. When he arrived, he rang her doorbell and strained to listen for movements inside the apartment. After several seconds, he heard her coming toward the door.

"Hey Gris," she opened the door wider so he could enter.

"Hello Sara," he stepped inside, closing the door behind him, "I was wondering what happened to you. I called you a couple times earlier."

"Oh, I was probably asleep," Sara explained, "did you need me?"

"No, I just thought it was odd that you didn't answer your phone," Grissom explained, "oh here, I brought this for you."

Sara watched as he produced a "Get Well Soon" card for her. She took it and saw that all of her friends from work had signed it.

"It was Greg's idea, we all just signed it," Grissom explained it.

"Tell him…and everyone else, that I said thank you," Sara sat down and opened the card to read all the messages, "have you read what Nicky wrote?"

"No, what'd he say?" Grissom asked.

" 'My dear friend, I don't know if anyone has ever told you this, but when you see a rock slide, you're supposed to step out of the way. It's not good for you try to catch a boulder with your foot. Oh well, I guess you know better now. Sorry, I just had to pick on you, get well soon Sara. Love ya, Nick'" Sara was laughing.

"He actually wrote that?" Grissom grabbed for the card.

"Yes," Sara shook her head, "because I did this on purpose."

"For all I know, you did. Maybe you were just dying for an excuse to take a few weeks off work with pay," Grissom teased.

"If I wanted to take off work, I have more than enough vacation days coming to me," Sara smacked him playfully.

"Anyone else say anything interesting?" Grissom asked.

"Everything else is pretty much the standard, 'sorry about your foot, hope you get well soon' type of stuff," Sara scanned the card, "oh wait, this one's good, 'Sara, I'm so sorry you have to take all this time out. I promise that I will do my best to make sure you aren't bored out of your skull. We will go do something together, maybe I'll take a few days off to be with you. I love you, GG'."

Grissom smiled, "I meant that."

"Which part?" Sara asked.

"All of it. But especially that last part. I do love you, Sara," Grissom said.

"I love you too," Sara smiled and leaned over to kiss him.

"I know I said that once, but it was sort of in the heat of the moment, so I really wanted to let you know I meant it," Grissom explained.

"I knew you meant it," Sara snuggled up to him.

"Good," Grissom smiled and enjoyed taking in the way Sara smelled, "you smell wonderful, dear."

Sara laughed, "Thanks, I don't think anyone has ever said that before."

"Um, so what would you think if I took a few days off work to come spend with you?" Grissom asked.

"Now I know you're serious," Sara sat up to look in his eyes, "you are actually thinking of putting work second for me?"

"Of course, I realize there is far more to life than just my job," Grissom said seriously.

"I have realized that too," Sara nodded, "I used to think that my job was my whole life."

"It's sad, isn't it?" Grissom asked slowly.

"What is?" Sara was confused.

"People like us. We spend a good portion of our lives devoted to working and never realizing how much of life we are missing out on. Look at Catherine, she may be divorced, but she has a daughter that she loves dearly. Then look at us. I'm getting old and I am just now starting my first really serious relationship," Grissom sighed deeply.

"That may be, but I think it was worth waiting for," Sara wrapped her arms around his neck, "don't you?"

"Oh yes, very much so," Grissom was cut off by her kisses.

A/N: Got tied up in school work before I could post this one. Thanks as always for the wonderful reviews.


	10. Chapter 10

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter Ten**

"Good morning, Sunshine."

Sara moaned and pulled her blankets back over her head, "Go away."

"Sara, come on get up," Grissom shook her gently.

"Leave me alone," she reached out and slapped at whatever was disturbing her slumber.

"Hey now," Grissom grabbed her arm, "Sara, wake up."

"What is your problem?" Sara threw her blankets off and sat up suddenly.

"Well you are just a bundle of joy first thing in the morning aren't you?" Grissom asked.

"Sorry about that," Sara blushed, "I'm not used to anyone waking me up. What are you doing here?"

"I just got off shift and I thought I would come get you before I went to breakfast with everyone else," Grissom explained, "I actually left a little early so I could come and get you. I figured you'd want to shower and stuff first."

"I knew I shouldn't have given you my spare key…" Sara mumbled, "you're not planning on waking me up like this every morning are you?"

"Boy you are really not a morning person are you?" Grissom teased.

"Once I'm awake, I'm just fine. No one has woken me up in person in years. Usually it's either my phone or the alarm clock," Sara slid to the edge of the bed looking for her crutches.

"Do you want me to make you a pot of coffee or something?" Grissom offered as Sara pulled out some clothes.

"That'd be wonderful," Sara smiled and headed for her bathroom, kissing Grissom briefly on the way.

* * *

"Hey Sara, good to see you," Warrick spotted her with Grissom.

"Hello guys," Sara smiled at her friends.

"How's the foot doing?" Catherine asked.

"It doesn't hurt anymore. Now I'm just constantly annoyed by this cast," Sara rolled her eyes.

"So did you learn your lesson about trying to punt boulders?" Nick teased.

"Very funny," Sara shook her head.

"Here, have a seat," Greg stood and moved so Sara could slide into the booth.

After a few minutes, everyone got settled into their seats and the waitress came to take their orders.

"So have you guys had any interesting cases this week?" Sara asked, sipping her orange juice.

"Cath and I had a DB at UNLV. A girl fell from her fourth floor dorm. Her friends claimed she was drunk and she just fell, but the tox report said otherwise. We have a theory that the girl and her boyfriend got into an argument, he pushed her into the window and she had enough force to pop the screen out," Warrick explained, "but her friends seem to be covering for him. We're working on proving that the boyfriend was in the room."

"Grissom let me work a case with Nick last night," Greg grinned, "I'm loving the field experience."

"Get used to it, as soon as you get a replacement, you'll be in the field a lot more," Grissom told him.

"It's hard to find someone to take my place," Greg said, "some days I think I'll never be out of the lab."

"You're out of the lab right now man," Nick teased.

"Yes, that's what I meant," Greg rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing to keep yourself occupied, Sara?" Warrick asked.

"Not a whole lot," Sara laughed, "I've actually been reading some entomology textbooks that Grissom gave me."

"Wow, you really must be bored," Catherine laughed.

Grissom glared at her, "Just because bugs don't interest you."

"I enjoy reading the books," Sara placed a hand gently on Grissom's shoulder, "besides, it's good to have someone else around who knows at least a little bit about bugs, right?"

"Sounds like we've got another Grissom on our hands," Nick laughed.

"And that's a bad thing?" Grissom grinned.

"Gil, trust me, it is," Catherine laughed and dodged the biscuit that came flying at her head.

"Hey now, calm down, remember we are in public," Warrick laughed, "don't go starting a food fight."

"We're a little old for that," Sara shook her head in amusement.

"She deserved it," Grissom crossed his arms.

"Sometimes the truth hurts," Catherine teased.

"Okay, that's enough, do the two of you need to go to time out?" Warrick asked.

The group enjoyed the rest of their meal together without any other food throwing incidents. Sara was glad to get out of her house for a while and hang out with her co-workers outside work. The truth was, spending all her time at home reading and reorganizing her things was incredibly monotonous. She did like reading the entomology texts, but not being able to do anything terribly active was really getting to her. Eventually everyone left and it was her and Grissom alone.

"You look tired," Sara looked at Grissom.

"Hmm. Oh yeah, I've been up for a long time," Grissom yawned.

"We should get going then," Sara slid out of the booth.

"I'll drop you off at your place and then I have to get home to sleep," Grissom said.

Once they arrived at Sara's apartment, she saw that he was far too sleepy to drive himself home, "Why don't you come inside?"

"What?" Grissom's head whipped around.

"You are too tired to drive home," Sara said, "you can sleep on my couch or something if you want."

Grissom raised his eyebrows, "I can drive home, it's five minutes."

"Come on, I'm trying to be nice here," Sara snatched his keys, "now you're not going anywhere."

"I am too tired to argue with you," Grissom gave in and slid out of his SUV, following Sara into her apartment.

"I'm actually kind of tired too. I hadn't been asleep for long when you got here this morning," Sara started.

"Sara, are you trying to tell me you want to sleep with me?" Grissom asked, realizing that was the wrong way to put it too late.

"Gris, I just thought maybe we could share my bed, I don't know what's going through your head," Sara teased.

"I'm sorry, Sara I didn't mean it like that," Grissom was clearly freaked out.

"Gil, it's okay, I know what you meant," Sara grabbed his arm and rubbed it gently.

"Good," Grissom yawned, "so let's go sleep, shall we?"

"All right," Sara lead him into her bedroom.

A/N: I am really sorry for the delay, so many things came up. Between tons of homework here at school and an emergency with one of my friends at home, I had no time to work on this story. Then when I finally had a chance to sit down and write, I had severe writer's block. So don't be surprised if the next chapter takes a few days.


	11. Chapter 11

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 11**

Sara woke up that evening, feeling the warmth of another body against her own and an arm draped across her waist. It took only a few seconds for her to remember that Grissom was with her. She took a few seconds to just enjoy the feeling of being so close to him, then realized he had to go to work. She opened her eyes and slowly rolled over to see that he was already awake.

"Hey beautiful," Grissom grinned at her.

"Hey," she smiled back.

"You're so peaceful looking when you're asleep," Grissom kissed her forehead.

"How long were you watching me?" Sara asked.

"Only a few minutes, you looked so peaceful, I just didn't want to wake you up yet," Grissom explained.

"I hate to get up, but you have to get ready for work," Sara stifled a yawn.

"How can you be sleepy, you just slept all day," Grissom teased.

"Be quiet," Sara stroked his beard.

"You know, I think I feel a bit of a flu coming on," Grissom faked a cough.

"You are bad," Sara smiled, "you are not going to call in are you?"

"I don't know if I can even get out of bed, I'm feeling really bad, sweetie," Grissom winked at her and reached for his cell phone.

Sara sat and listened to Grissom's side of the conversation, all the while not believing that he was really going through with it. He managed to sound pretty convincing with his 'coughing'.

"So, what are we going to do with a whole evening to ourselves?" Grissom laid back down.

"I don't know, we better stay in and eat soup, you _are_ sick," Sara teased.

"I'm not really sick, honey, I know I'm a convincing actor," Grissom ruffled her hair.

Sara snorted, "Don't go quitting your job to go to Hollywood."

"I don't think we have to worry about that," Grissom laughed, "I love my job."

"That's good," Sara nestled into his chest once more.

"Do you seriously want to go do anything?" Grissom offered, "get out of your house for an evening?"

"I don't know, we'd be pretty limited in what we could go do," Sara said, "what would we go do?"

"I don't know, how about a movie or something?" he suggested.

"You want to go to a movie?" she asked incredulously.

"There's a theater that shows old films, I like to go from time to time," he said.

"Mmm sounds nice," Sara yawned.

"Are falling back to sleep?" Grissom asked.

"No," Sara muttered into her pillow.

"You're a bad liar," Grissom chuckled, "if you don't want to go to the movie, it's okay."

"No, let's go," Sara kicked the blankets off, "I don't want you to spend your 'sick day' sleeping."

* * *

"So Sara's still off because of her injury, and now Grissom calls in 'sick'?" Warrick asked.

"Yep that's what they told me," Catherine said irritably, "they also informed me that I'm filling in for him tonight."

"How nice for you," Warrick shook his head, "do you suppose Grissom is at Sara's place?"

"Where else would he be? This is Grissom, he's never sick," Catherine smiled, "it's actually kind of nice that he has someone for a change."

"Yeah, he was so lonely, and so was she. I think they are perfect for each other," Warrick agreed.

"He just better not plan on skipping out on work all the time," Catherine sighed.

"I don't think he will," Warrick held a door open for her, "do you need help with anything?"

"No thanks, I think I've got it," Catherine eyed the mound of paperwork on Grissom's desk, "I'm beginning to think he does this on purpose. Remember when he had to go to Jackpot? He left a ton of paperwork and asked me to do it."

"And you're so nice, you do it for him," Warrick smiled, "how about after shift, just you and I go grab something to eat?"

"Okay," Catherine put down the papers she was holding.

"Really?" Warrick was surprised.

"Yeah, I could use a little break. Lindsey's beginning to get in more trouble at school and I don't know what to do with her. So a little breakfast would be fantastic," Catherine explained.

"What's she up to now?" Warrick inquired.

"Bad attitude, grades are slipping," Catherine said slowly.

"Aw man, I'm sorry to hear that," Warrick replied, "well, I have to log our evidence into the vault. I'll see you later."

"Bye," Catherine watched him leave Grissom's office. She stared at the pile of papers on Grissom's desk, wishing they'd just disappear. Of course, they didn't move, so she gave up and started doing the work for her supervisor.

"Wow, looks like you're having fun," Greg interrupted her a little while later.

"Loads," Catherine rolled her eyes, "did you need something?"

"I was working my case with Nick and I thought you might be able to help us. The vic is a young woman and she won't say a word to us. I was thinking maybe she'd talk to you because you're a woman and sometimes that helps," Greg explained.

"Sure, just give me a little more information on what happened," Catherine put her papers back down.

"Thanks," Greg said.

A/N: There should be some more action in the next chapter. I was shocked by tonight's CSI. Poor Sara, her childhood is so sad. I could not imagine what it would be like to have your mother murder your father. shakes head sadly I wanted to cry when she admitted all that and all Grissom did was hold her hand. Someone should smack him into reality.


	12. Chapter 12

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 12**

"I never knew those old movies were so interesting," Sara said as she and Grissom walked out of the theater.

"They are my favorites. The movies these days are just not any good," Grissom explained.

"Well thanks for bringing me here," Sara told him.

"I'd ask if you want to go for a walk, but it can't be fun walking around with crutches," Grissom eyed her foot.

"I'm hoping to get a walking cast soon," Sara sighed, "but I don't know. We could walk for a little while."

"Are you sure? You don't have to do it for me," Grissom started to turn towards the parking lot.

"No, no I want to. Let's head down to the coffee shop at the end of the block. We can stop and sit and drink coffee," Sara offered.

"All right, if you insist," Grissom said.

"Oh I insist," Sara grinned.

"You're the cripple," Grissom teased, "if you are up for it then I am."

"Ha ha," Sara shook her head, "I'm not a cripple."

"Yet you can't walk on your own," Grissom raised his eyebrows.

"Oh be quiet," Sara said, "or I might crush your foot with my crutches. Then we could have matching injuries. It'd be cute."

"Uh, no thanks," Grissom stepped away from her, "I'm fine with two working feet."

"Well you're no fun," Sara laughed.

"Yes, how boring am I?" Grissom rolled his eyes, "because having your foot broken is a party."

"It is. You get to take a couple weeks off work. You make your boss skip out on work, claiming to be sick," Sara smiled, "it's really quite fun."

"You're not going to tell on me, are you?" Grissom asked.

"No way," Sara said, "I have no reason to turn you in. Besides, I'm an accomplice now, I was in on the fact that you faked an illness. You better act a little sick tomorrow at work though."

"Don't you worry about me," Grissom faked a cough.

* * *

Catherine's cell phone rang as she and Warrick were enjoying their breakfast.

"I have to take this," Catherine said, "it's Lindsey's school."

"Okay," Warrick replied through a bite of egg.

"Hello," Catherine answered.

"Ms. Willows?" a woman asked.

"This is her," Catherine replied.

"I'm Mrs. Kaminski, I'm Lindsey's teacher at school. I was just calling to see if she was okay, she's not in class and you didn't call her in this morning. Is she feeling well?" the woman asked.

"What? What do you mean she's not at school?" Catherine worried, "she should be there."

"No, she didn't come to class this morning," Mrs. Kaminski said.

"Maybe she's just at home," Catherine closed her eyes, "I wouldn't be surprised if she decided to ditch school. Thank you for calling."

"Let me know if you find her, okay?" Mrs. Kaminski finished, "goodbye."

"Something wrong?" Warrick asked.

"Lindsey didn't show up at school this morning," Catherine said seriously.

"I'll get the check," Warrick stood up quickly.

Catherine sat at the booth for a moment longer, praying that Lindsey was only skipping school. The thought that her daughter might be missing was terrifying. She tried to remain calm as she stood and joined Warrick at the counter, paying for their meal.

"I'll drive," Warrick offered, "you've got a lot on your mind at the moment."

"Okay," Catherine handed him her keys, not at all wanting to argue.

The second they arrived at her house, Catherine jumped out of the vehicle and dashed to the door. She ran inside and checked everywhere for Lindsey, but didn't find her. She found a note on the kitchen counter from the babysitter:

"_I dropped Lindsey off at school this morning. I left a little bit of last night's dinner in the fridge for you in case you were hungry. I'll see you again tonight. _

_-Mary_"

"Damn it!" Catherine slammed her fists onto the counter.

"What is it?" Warrick asked from behind.

Catherine jumped, forgetting he had been there, "The babysitter left a note saying she dropped Lindsey off at school this morning. Her teacher says she was not at school."

"Is there anywhere else she might go?" Warrick asked.

"I don't know," Catherine felt like she was going to cry.

"Maybe you should notify the police, have them keep an eye out for her," Warrick suggested.

"I have to go look for her," Catherine grabbed for her keys.

"No wait, Cath, you have no idea where she might be," Warrick pulled her back toward him, "you should try calling anywhere she might have gone. We don't know if she just walked off or what right now."

"Oh God, what if someone took her?" Catherine asked suddenly.

"We don't know anything yet, just try to stay calm," Warrick soothed, "let's start off by calling the police, okay?"

"Okay," Catherine took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down a little.

A/N: I felt the other characters were being neglected a little bit, so I am adding this story with Catherine and Lindsey. I know I haven't had Nick and Greg in the story much lately, but I hope to get to them too. I just don't know what to have happen with them. Anyway, hope you enjoy this latest installment.


	13. Chapter 13

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 13**

"Look, Grissom, I really don't care that you skipped out on work. Please just call me the second you get this message, I need your help," Catherine said to Grissom's voicemail.

"He didn't answer his cell phone?" Warrick asked.

"No," Catherine slammed her phone down in frustration.

"Hopefully we'll find Lindsey before Grissom even gets here," Warrick said.

"I just want to know where she went," Catherine sighed, "part of me is mad at her for just disappearing, but most of me is terrified that something happened to her. I almost lost her once…"

"Shh," Warrick hugged her, "it'll be okay."

"How do you know that?" Catherine mumbled into his chest.

"Okay, I don't, but it doesn't make you feel any better if I tell you that, does that?" Warrick asked.

"No," Catherine sniffled in reply.

"All right, one kid at her school said that she saw Lindsey this morning. Your babysitter dropped her off. She waited for the babysitter to drive away, then started walking west from the schoolyard," Brass announced.

"What?" Catherine pulled away from Warrick.

"I know, it sounds strange, but it's the only witness we have at the moment," Brass said.

"She wouldn't just ditch school," Catherine shook her head, "I know she's been getting into trouble but…well, maybe she would. God, I don't even know my own daughter anymore."

"She's just at that age where she wants to rebel, some kids are worse than others, you are not a bad mother," Warrick rubbed her lower back gently.

"Look, we have officers all over the place looking for her," Brass offered, "if she's out there, we are going to find her."

"She's never leaving my sight again if we find her," Catherine sobbed.

"We're doing our best, Cath," Brass said, "I'm going to go for now, you just stay here and wait for news from us. I mean it, don't go looking for her. We don't need you out in the field right now."

At that moment, Catherine's cell phone rang, "Hello? Lindsey?"

"No, it's me Grissom," her supervisor responded, "what's going on?"

"Lindsey's missing," Catherine's voice shook.

"Do you have any idea where she is?" Grissom asked.

"No, someone saw her walking away from school this morning and that was it," Catherine replied.

"Do you need me to do anything for you?" Grissom offered.

"Please go look for her, I want to find her," Catherine begged, "you have to help me."

"I'll do what I can," Grissom said, "call me if you hear anything and I'll do the same."

"Okay," Catherine said softly, "please find her Gil."

"I'll do my best," Grissom said, "goodbye Catherine."

"Bye," she hung up.

* * *

"What's going on with Catherine?" Sara asked the second Grissom hung up his cell phone.

"Lindsey is missing," Grissom replied, "Catherine wants me to help look for her."

"Damn, what a time for me to not be mobile. Could you take me to Catherine's house and drop me off. If I can't help you out, I'll at least go help her," Sara said.

"Sure, I'll take you over there," Grissom stood, "this is not good."

"I knew she said Lindsey's been acting up in school, but you don't think she'd just run away, would she?" Sara asked.

"I really don't know," Grissom replied, "here let me help you."

He bent down and picked up both crutches for her, then helped her to her feet. He dropped Sara off at Catherine's house and then got a call from Nick and Greg. They were out helping look for Lindsey. He joined them at her school.

"So, another student said she saw Lindsey walk that way," Greg pointed.

"Well, I guess we should head that direction then," Grissom clapped his hands together.

"Maybe we should split up a bit, we don't know which direction she could have gone from there," Nick scanned the area.

It was a nice neighborhood. There were neat little homes all around and a fence surrounding the schoolyard. A few blocks away there was a little convenience store where, according to the teachers, a lot of students would stop in and buy candy on their way to and from the school.

"I think I'll head for that convenience school," Grissom said, "I'll ask if they saw her."

"Call if you find anything," Nick yelled as Grissom walked away.

"Same goes for you guys," Grissom hollered back.

Grissom walked to the convenience store, all the while scanning the ground for anything out of place. When he got to the store, he pulled out the picture of Lindsey that Catherine had given him before he left. He showed it to the clerk and asked if they had seen her at any time during the day.

"Yes, I remember that little girl," the clerk replied, "she was in here this morning, at about nine o'clock. She bought a soda and a candy bar."

"Okay," Grissom slipped the picture back into his pocket, "did she happen to say anything about where she was going or what she was doing here?"

"No, I thought it was odd that she wasn't in school. She was by herself though, didn't say a word. She left and I think she was heading towards town. I figured it's one of those kids ditching school to go hang out at an arcade or something. I see a lot of that in here," the clerk elaborated.

"Thank you, you've been very helpful," Grissom nodded to the clerk.

"I hope you find her," the clerk called out after him.

"Me too," Grissom slipped out the door.

Grissom pulled out his cell and dialed Catherine's number, "Hey, it's me."

"Have you found her yet?" Catherine asked eagerly.

"Not yet, but I may have a lead. She was seen at a convenience store this morning buying a pop and some candy. The clerk seems to think she was heading towards town," Grissom explained.

"So she was ditching school? I knew it! She knows better than that," Catherine fumed.

"We're still hoping to find her," Grissom said, "we've still got a lot to go on. Nick and Greg are helping me and the police are keeping their eyes out for her."

"Please find my baby," Catherine implored.

"I'm doing everything I can," Grissom assured her, "with any luck, she'll be found before dark. There's a lot of people out there looking for her."

"Thank you," Catherine said quietly.

"Sara and Warrick still there with you?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah, did you want to talk to Sara?" Catherine asked.

"Yes please," Grissom said.

"Hey Gris," Sara took the offered phone.

"How's Catherine holding up?" Grissom questioned.

"She's doing okay," Sara lowered her voice, "obviously upset, but she's holding together. I think Warrick's giving her a lot of comfort. I'm actually feeling like a bit of a third wheel. She'd never ask me to leave, but I think she feels better with him around."

"At least she seems to be okay," Grissom sighed, "I don't know if we'll find her or if she's going to be okay. I pray for Catherine's sake that she's fine."

"Me too," Sara said, "it's really nice that you're helping her though. I think she's getting a lot of piece of mind from knowing you and the other guys are out there helping look for Lindsey."

"I'm just doing what I can," Grissom told her, "look, I'll call you guys later if I find anything else out, okay?"

"All right, talk to you later," Sara hung up Catherine's phone.

A/N: Hope you are enjoying the story so far. I appreciate and enjoy reading your reviews as always.


	14. Chapter 14

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 14**

"It's almost time for shift to start," Warrick eyed the clock.

"Look, you stay here, I'll go in tonight," Sara offered.

"No, you can't do anything," Catherine protested, "you wouldn't be any help in the field, no offense."

"I may not be any good in the field, but I can at least help out around the lab. You do not need to be going to work," Sara countered, "come on, let me do this for you."

Catherine noted the serious look in Sara's eyes, "All right. But if you guys are slammed, you have to call me in."

"Only if we really need you," Warrick put in, "you need to get some sleep."

"I can't sleep," Catherine sucked in a huge breath, "not until someone finds Lindsey."

"Grissom, Greg, Nick and a whole brigade of LVPD officers are looking for her, Cath, someone is going to find her," Warrick soothed.

"I'm more worried about how they'll find her," Catherine sniffled.

"She's a smart kid, she is probably fine. Lost track of the time or something," Sara said.

"I hope you are right. You guys better get to the lab, don't want to be late," Catherine ushered them to the door, "my cell phone will be on all night."

"The second anyone hears a thing, you're the first one that gets called," Warrick assured her.

Catherine closed the door behind Sara and Warrick and slumped back down on her couch. The past day had been pretty much a blur. She knew she should probably get some sleep because it had been nearly 48 hours since the last time she had even seen her bed. Yet her mind could not let her rest until Lindsey was safely at home in her own bed. She couldn't believe that Lindsey would pull something like this. Half the lab and a good chunk of the police department was out looking for her. If it turned out she was at a friend's house or something like that, Catherine thought she might snap.

After a while, she flopped over on the couch, deciding it couldn't hurt to take a little nap. The second she was laying down, her eyes were shut and she fell asleep. It was not a restful nap, her mind was still entirely focused on her daughter. The nap was interrupted after about an hour by the ringing of her cell phone.

"Is this Catherine Willows' home?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Yes it is," Catherine stifled a yawn.

"My name is Randy Miller. I was wondering, Miss Willows, do you have a daughter?" the man asked.

"Oh God, do you have Lindsey? Where is she?" Catherine shot up from the couch, "is she okay?"

"Try to keep calm, your daughter was brought in to Desert Palm a couple hours ago. We weren't able to ID her until just a little while ago," Randy explained.

"What happened to her? Is she dead?" Catherine shouted into her phone.

"She was hit by a car this evening. She is alive," Randy continued.

Catherine hung up her phone before the man could even finish explaining. She grabbed her purse and car keys and ran for her car. She had to get to the hospital and see that Lindsey was alive for herself. It was as she was pulling out of her driveway that she realized she probably should have waited to at least hear Lindsey's condition. It was too late now and she hoped she wasn't going to break any laws as she sped to the hospital.

* * *

"She's not answering her phone," Warrick announced worriedly, "I left her another message."

"Maybe the hospital already called her," Greg offered, "we should see if that's where she is."

"I'll call them," Sara volunteered, "they'll know if Catherine has been there yet."

"I'm going to her house just in case," Warrick said, "she might be sleeping or something."

"Thank God we're really slow tonight," Nick sighed, "is Grissom still out in the field?"

"Yeah," Greg nodded.

Grissom had been the one to come upon the scene where Lindsey had been hit. She was gone by the time he arrived, but he asked some officers at the scene to identify the victim. They saw the picture of Lindsey and were pretty sure it was the little girl the paramedics had whisked away. They explained to him that a couple had been arguing as they drove and the driver accidentally swerved onto the sidewalk, hitting Lindsey. Grissom took it upon himself to take this case. Nick and Greg had showed up to help him, but he sent them back to the lab with evidence, insisting that he would stay at the scene until they were sure they had everything.

"Catherine is with Lindsey right now," Sara told everyone, "she's very upset, but glad that they found her according to the admit desk."

"Did they say anything about Lindsey's condition?" Nick asked.

"They wouldn't release it to me," Sara shook her head.

"I want to go to the hospital so bad, but I know we should stay here in case any new cases come in," Greg sighed.

"Yeah, with Warrick gone, and if I know him, he's going to go to Catherine, and Grissom out in the field, we should definitely stay here. Sara can't go out in the field and you can't go alone, so that leaves us really short," Nick said.

"I'd say so," Sara raised her eyebrows, "technically there's only one real CSI here right now."

"I just hope no big cases come in," Greg said, "that'd be bad."

"We might have to make gimpy here hobble out to a scene with us," Nick teased.

"Shut up, the second I can get a walking cast put on, I will. And then I'll walk up to you and kick you with my good foot," Sara threatened.

"Now that would be fun to see," Greg laughed.

"Don't you have some DNA or something to go run?" Nick asked menacingly.

"Hey, you know what, you're right," Greg slipped out of the room.

"You're so mean," Sara punched Nick in the arm.

"And you're not, ouch," Nick gave her a puppy dog look.

"Oh come on, that didn't hurt you," she laughed.

"You're right, you're just a weak little girl, you can't hurt me," Nick grinned and moved out of her range.

"You are so lucky that I'm disabled at the moment," Sara growled.

"I know, that's what makes it so fun," Nick smirked.

"What's fun?" Grissom asked, walking in to the room.

"Hey you're back," Nick suddenly changed subjects.

"He's making fun of me," Sara said, then mentally smacked herself for how childish that sounded.

"Is that so?" Grissom smiled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nick crossed his arms, trying to look innocent.

"I'm sure you don't," Sara narrowed her eyes at him.

"Do I need to put you two in time our or something?" Grissom tried not to laugh as he said that.

"No, I think we're good," Nick slipped out of the room.

"So, do you know what happened with Lindsey?" Sara asked soberly.

"Well, from the looks of things, it was pretty much an accident, but the driver is still going to be held responsible for something," Grissom said, "he wasn't drunk or anything, just suddenly swerved onto the sidewalk. Lindsey was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"That's awful," Sara shook her head sadly, "any word from Catherine?"

"I haven't talked to her since this morning," Grissom told her, "I called a few times when I found out what happened, but I think the hospital got to her first. Probably dropped her cell phone in the rush to leave. Or else has it turned off."

"I can't imagine what she's going through right now. I could see the pain and worry in her eyes when I was with her this afternoon. It was really killing her to not have a clue where Lindsey was. Then to get a call from the hospital…" Sara trailed off.

A/N: So uh, I was logged in yesterday to upload a new chapter and I realized the 18 is missing from my penname. I went to my profile to put it back and the site will NOT allow me to have numbers in my name. I'm so confused as to why that happened...how long has it been missing? lol It really doesn't matter, but I thought it was weird. Anyway, thanks for reading as always.


	15. Chapter 15

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 15**

As soon as shift was over, the night crew headed to Desert Palm together. They still hadn't heard from Catherine, but Warrick had called to let them know he was with her. She seemed pretty torn up, according to him. He told them that Lindsey was pretty much going to be fine. She was lucky not to be hit too hard. She had some broken bones, scratches and bruises mostly.

A nurse directed the group to Lindsey's room and upon entering, they discovered Lindsey was asleep. Catherine was asleep too, her head resting on Warrick's shoulder.

"Hey guys," he greeted them softly.

"Hey," the group returned equally as quiet.

Warrick managed to slip away from Catherine and they moved out into the hall to talk.

"How is Catherine doing?" Grissom asked.

"She's still pretty upset. She's glad that Lindsey is going to be okay, but of course she's mad that Lindsey skipped out on school and disappeared all day," Warrick explained.

"How about Lindsey?" Greg asked.

"She hasn't really had anything to say. She's been sleeping most of the night. I think they're both incredibly worn out from the day's events. I'm actually pretty tired myself," Warrick yawned.

"How long have you been up?" Nick inquired.

"A couple days now," Warrick said, "I think. I don't know. I lost track of time."

"It's good of you to be there for Catherine and support her though," Sara told him, "I think she really appreciates it."

"She needed someone and I happened to be there when she got the original call that Lindsey was missing," Warrick rationalized.

"Maybe you should head home and get some sleep then," Grissom suggested.

"I think we could all use some sleep," Greg added, "I think we've all been up for a long time."

"Good point," Nick yawned, as if on cue.

"I'm going to stick around and maybe I can catch some sleep. I'll see you guys tonight," Warrick said.

"Okay. Tell Catherine we stopped by," Grissom said.

"Sure thing," Warrick turned and rejoined the sleeping girls in the hospital room.

* * *

"Talk about an eventful couple of days," Sara said as Grissom drove.

"No kidding," he shook his head.

"I'm just glad they found Lindsey alive," Sara said, "I can't imagine what would happen to Catherine if Lindsey wasn't okay."

"I don't even want to think about it," Grissom yawned, "can we just stop at my place? It's closer and I don't know about you, but I just want to go sleep. I'm not even hungry anymore."

"Fine with me," Sara smiled to herself. Grissom was actually inviting her to stay at his place. This was not something she had ever expected to happen in a million years. And yet it was just an innocent invitation.

"You falling asleep over there?" Grissom asked a few minutes later.

"Huh? Oh. I guess I was," Sara blushed.

"It's okay, I think I'm about to fall asleep myself," Grissom laughed.

"You might want to wait until we get to your place," Sara smiled.

"I was just going to pull over here and take a nap," Grissom teased, "but if you insist, I'll wait until we get to my place."

"That might be a good idea," Sara winked at him.

They spent the rest of the short drive to Grissom's place in contented silence. When they arrived, Sara followed quietly as he lead the way to his home.

"You don't have anything to change into," he suddenly broke the silence.

"It's okay," she returned, "I can sleep in my clothes. Then I'll go home before work and change."

"All right," he kicked off his shoes by the door, "do you want anything to eat before we go to bed?"

"I'm fine. I just want to sleep," she yawned.

"Okay then," Grissom smiled, "you just get right to the point don't you?"

"I thought you were falling asleep in the car," Sara said.

"Oh I was," he replied, "I was just trying to be hospitable."

"Let's just get some sleep," she told him, "you can be hospitable later."

Grissom led Sara to his bedroom. She was surprised at how simple it was. It was painted plain white. There was a bookshelf in the corner and a large bed in the center of the other wall. It was a small room and had hardly any personal touch to it. The more she thought about it though, the more it seemed to be just right for him.

"What are you thinking, sweetie?" Grissom interrupted her thoughts.

"Nothing, I was just looking around," Sara sat on the edge of the bed where he had pulled back the covers.

"I know it's plain and boring, just like me," Grissom smiled.

"You are not plain or boring," Sara said seriously.

"I can tell you one thing, right now, and that is that I am going to fall asleep any second. So we can either sit here and discuss me, or we can catch several hours of sleep," he slid into the bed.

"I would say goodnight, but it's not night time," she grinned.

"Just go to sleep," he moved to kiss her.

"Sounds like a plan," Sara slid closer to him.

He wrapped his arms around her and they both fell asleep.

A/N: It really doesn't matter about my missing 18, I just thought it was weird. lol. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	16. Chapter 16

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 16**

Catherine was vaguely aware that someone was moving around the room. She was still very tired and tried to ignore the movement. Then it hit her that she was in the hospital. She sat up and realized she had been sleeping on Warrick's shoulder. He was still sleeping as the nurse apologized for waking her up.

"It's okay," Catherine assured her.

"I was just finishing checking up on everything," the nurse said, "I'll be back later."

"Mommy?" Lindsey's small voice cried out.

"I'm right here, Linds," Catherine took her hand.

"I'm sorry Mama," Lindsey sobbed.

"Let's not talk about it right now, baby, I'm just glad that you're okay," Catherine said.

"Am I in trouble?" Lindsey asked softly.

"Yes," Catherine answered shortly, Lindsey seemingly wanting to press the issue right now.

"I'm sorry," Lindsey looked at her mother's blank face.

"Do you have any idea what you put me through?" Catherine's voice raised.

"No," Lindsey answered in a tiny voice.

"God, Lindsey, I didn't even have a clue where you were. I thought maybe someone kidnapped you or something. Then I heard that you skipped school, I'm so upset with you. You should know better than this, but it seems like lately you're just testing me. I can't do this anymore, Linds. You're killing me," Catherine shouted.

"Mom, I-" Lindsey started.

"No, I don't want to hear anything out of you right now. I know things are hard for you. But it seems that ever since your father died, you are nothing but trouble. I don't know what I'm going to do with you. I thought I could take care of you by myself, but this just proves that I can't do it. You are too much for me. I don't know what to do anymore," Catherine started to cry.

Lindsey remained silent this time, tears running down her face. She was pretty scared because she knew she had gone too far this time. Her mom was really mad at her. She was afraid of what was going to happen to her right now.

"Look, let's deal with this later," Catherine sniffled, "okay. I'm mad at you, but baby, I still love you and I am so glad that you're alive."

"I'm sorry, Mom," Lindsey cried, leaning into her mother's hug.

"Just promise me that you're going to start trying to act better. I understand that you are frustrated with me at times, but you have to help me out here, honey," Catherine wiped away some of Lindsey's tears.

"Okay, I promise I'll try to be better," Lindsey said shakily.

"You know I love you Lindsey, you're my life. I know I work a lot, but baby, it's for you. I have to have a job to support you," Catherine explained.

"I know, Mom," Lindsey nodded, "I really do. I don't know why I'm being so bad."

"It's okay, just as long you promise to work on this with me, I think we'll be okay," Catherine hugged her again.

"I love you, Mom," Lindsey told her.

"I love you too, Lindsey," Catherine said.

Through all of this Warrick continued to pretend he was asleep. Catherine's loud words had woken him up, but he decided it was to pretend he was asleep. This was not something that they needed him present for, but he was sort of trapped in the room.

* * *

"Time to wake up," Grissom announced cheerily.

"Why are you so happy?" Sara sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"I don't know, I slept great last night," he smiled at her.

"Me too, as a matter of fact," she stretched.

"So, I was thinking about something, but I'm almost afraid to tell you," he started.

"Well now you have caught my interest, you have to tell me," Sara patted a spot on the bed next to her.

Grissom sat next to her, "Well, it seems that we're spending a lot of time together lately."

"Yes," Sara urged him to continue.

"I don't know, it seems sort of a waste that someone's place is always empty," Grissom said slowly, "maybe we should think about living together."

"Whoa, are you serious?" Sara's jaw dropped.

"I knew it was a bad idea, I'm sorry," Grissom said quickly.

"Hey now, I didn't disagree, I just thought it was really bold of you to suggest it," Sara smiled, "I actually think it's a good idea. I mean, we don't necessarily get to spend a lot of time together at work, so coming home to each other would be nice."

"And I don't know about you, but the last couple times when we've slept together, I've slept better than I have in a long time," Grissom continued.

"You know I have," Sara agreed, "I don't know, I feel more…secure when you're with me."

"I'm glad we're on the same page," Grissom brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"Me too," Sara smiled, "I'm glad that you really seem to be changing a lot. First skipping work for me, now you want to live together. Gil Grissom, you are a different man."

"I guess you've been the catalyst that I was lacking all along," Grissom said, "who would have thought the one thing I was most afraid of is the one thing that I really needed in my life."

"See, I'm not all that scary am I?" Sara joked.

"No, you aren't. I mean, I'm still a little bit frightened at every new turn, but so far it has felt good to keep moving. You don't think we're moving too fast do you?" he asked suddenly.

"Not at all," she assured him, "this feels just right."

"We don't even have to officially move until your foot heals up. I'm sure the last thing you want to do right now is move a bunch of stuff," he said.

"You're right. I really can't wait until I get that walking cast. At least then I can feel useful at work," Sara told him.

"For now, you're helping out by just being at the lab. Catherine will really appreciate letting her take some time off right now," Grissom said.

"Anything I can do to help her," Sara said, "so what do you have to eat around here that's not meat?"

"Um. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Grissom offered sheepishly, "I haven't shopped in a while."

"Actually, that doesn't sound too bad," Sara said, "I haven't had one of those in a long time."

"Probably because you're over the age of 12," Grissom laughed.

"I ate a lot of them in college actually," Sara shook her head, "what else can you eat when you're poor?"

"I believe that hot college diet right now involves a lot of Ramen noodles," Grissom said.

"Now that stuff is cheap," Sara agreed, "well let's go eat, I'm suddenly very hungry."

"Me too," Grissom stood, "but you just sit in the living room, I'm not letting you make your own sandwich. I think I can manage to make one for you."

"I don't know, can you handle making a PBJ sandwich?" Sara asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," Grissom slipped into his kitchen.

A few minutes later, he returned bearing two sandwiches.

"Let's see if I can make a simple sandwich, shall we?" he sat the plate down on the coffee table.

Sara picked up a sandwich half and bit into it, "Wow, that's actually pretty good."

"So I'm not a complete failure at cooking," Grissom smiled, "it's pretty hard to screw up a sandwich."

"I'm sure it's possible," Sara laughed.


	17. Chapter 17

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 17**

Up until the time Sara was to have her cast removed, she and Grissom took turns staying at each other's apartments. When they had days off together, they went hunting for a new place. They had decided that neither of their current homes was right for them move into together. The hope was that by the time Sara was able to get around, and ready to move, they'd have a nice little house or a bigger apartment.

"Sara, I don't know about you, but I really like this place," Grissom said as they took a tour of a small house not too far from where Grissom currently lived.

"I think I do too," Sara smiled, "it's small, but it's really nice and plenty for both of us."

"The price is just in the right range too," Grissom agreed.

"Well I'll let you two discuss this alone," the home owner casually slipped out of the room.

"Is this really it?" Sara asked, "is this the one?"

"I think it is," Grissom raised his eyebrows, "that is if you like it."

"It's got two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room," Sara listed, "I think that's good."

"It's still close to work," Grissom added, "and I don't know about you, but it's got a nice, homey feel to it."

"I think so too," Sara smiled, "are we sure this is the one?"

Grissom glanced around the room once more, "I'm ready if you are."

"When exactly will we move?" Sara asked.

"Well, I can get us both a day off work and maybe we can get Nicky, Warrick, Catherine, Greg and Brass to help us out, even if it's only for a little while. That would sure make things faster with that much help," Grissom said.

"You realize that means we have to tell everyone we're planning to move in together soon," Sara said.

"I know," Grissom nodded, "they'd know sooner or later anyway."

"I'm getting my cast off tomorrow, so whenever the owner is ready for us to move in," Sara said.

"And just when I thought you were really starting to like that thing," Grissom teased.

"If I have to spend another week in the lab, I will go crazy," Sara laughed.

"So, this is going to be our house," Grissom smiled and looked around.

"All right, let's go tell the owner," Sara turned as quickly as she could with her crutches.

"Ma'am, I think we would like to buy your house," Grissom announced when they found her on the front porch.

"Really?" the woman asked, "this is great news. You know you're only the third people to look at it? I thought I'd be trying to sell this forever. And you two look like such a nice couple too."

"Thanks," Sara smiled.

* * *

Catherine took a week off work and spent every minute of her free time with Lindsey. Mostly Catherine wanted to spend the time with her daughter that they had both missed out a lot on because of work. 

"Mom, I love you," Lindsey announced one morning at breakfast.

"I love you too Linds," Catherine smiled.

"I'm sorry I skipped school," Lindsey hung her head.

"Linds, it's okay, we already went over this," Catherine put her fork down.

"No Mom, I've been thinking about it. It was really stupid. I think partly in my mind I was doing it because I knew it would upset you," Lindsey started to cry.

"Linds," Catherine sighed.

"I'm sorry Mom. When I saw that car swerving towards me, it made me think," Lindsey sniffled.

"Honey, as long as you know what you did was wrong, that's all I really care about," Catherine told her softly.

"But I thought about what would happen if I died. First you lost Daddy, and I know you guys didn't along, but I was there and I saw how much it hurt you," Lindsey continued.

Catherine got up and pulled Lindsey into her arms, "Lindsey, I love you so much. You are my life and I know it doesn't seem that way when I work all the time. But I really work for you, so you can have a nice life."

"You do your best, I know it Mom," Lindsey sobbed, "I don't help things out by being a brat. It's just…it hurts sometimes that you don't have time for me."

"Lindsey, I'm sorry. I'm really going to try harder to spend more time with you," Catherine assured her, "my biggest fear is losing you, baby."

"You won't, at least not to me doing something stupid like that," Lindsey said shakily, "I promise you I will start doing better and I'll tell you where you I am all the time."

"Honey, I love you so much," Catherine was crying by this time too, "if you make an effort to be better, I will too. Deal?"

"Deal," Lindsey agreed.

"Let's just put all that aside for now, I know we have a lot to work on, but let's make today just about us. Mother and daughter, having a good time together," Catherine suggested.

"Okay Mom," Lindsey sniffled.

"What do you want to do? We can do whatever you want today," Catherine suggested.

"Let's just stay here, all I really want to do is be with you right now," Lindsey took the offered Kleenex.

"All right, what do you want to do after breakfast then?" Catherine asked, returning to her plate.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not hungry anymore, let's go watch a movie," Lindsey took her mother's hand in her good one and led her to their movie collection, "you pick one Mom."

"Okay," Catherine looked through their various movies and DVDs, finally selecting one that she knew Lindsey liked.

"Wow, that's my favorite, Mom," Lindsey smiled, "you do listen to me."

"Yes I do," Catherine smiled, "I know we didn't finish breakfast, but how about some popcorn?"

"That would be great," Lindsey agreed, "let me make it for you, Mom."

"All right," Catherine took a seat on the couch and waited for Lindsey to return. She hoped that Lindsey was being serious and not just saying what she knew her mother wanted her to hear. She had the feeling Lindsey was being sincere. The accident had scared them both. Now Catherine was just relieved to even have the opportunity to bond with her daughter again. She was going to really enjoy their nice, calm day at home. She did realize Lindsey was missing a week of school, but she had been hit by a car. Even if she was medically cleared to go back to school, Catherine wanted a chance to spend time alone with her daughter.

A/N: It took me six or seven tries for this chapter! Ack, I don't know why it was so hard. Anyway, thank you so much for your patience in my delay. You are all excellent reviewers and I really do appreciate every one of you! With any luck, the next chapter should come easier.


	18. Chapter 18

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 18**

Sara was very happy to finally have her hard cast removed. She would still have to wear a special boot for a couple weeks to help keep the weight off the foot while it was rehabilitated. She was more than happy to wear the boot if it meant she was no longer confined to the lab. The doctor explained to her that she could remove it to bathe and gave her some basic physical therapy exercises that she could do at home.

"Oh now that's sexy," Grissom teased when she came outside to where he had been waiting.

"Be quiet," Sara smacked him playfully, "just remember, I'm more mobile now and I could beat you up."

"You would hurt me?" Grissom pretended to be shocked.

"If you pick on me, I just might," Sara laughed.

"I'm glad you can start working in the field again. It will be good to have an extra, experience pair of hands. Greg will be disappointed though, he is probably going to spending more time in the lab now," Grissom said.

"I keep telling him, as soon as he finds a replacement, he can focus on the fieldwork," Sara shook her head, "I wouldn't think it would be so hard to find a DNA lab technician."

"It is, that's why I made that stipulation. I figured that way he really can really commit to being a CSI if it's what he wants," Grissom explained.

They got into Grissom's SUV and drove back toward Grissom's townhouse. Grissom pulled off the road and parked at the end of a street.

"What are we doing?" Sara asked.

"Wait a minute," Grissom hopped out and ran over to open Sara's door for her, "can you walk for a little while?"

"Yes," Sara said suspiciously.

"I just thought we could go for a little walk and maybe go get some lunch," Grissom explained, "you know because you've been on crutches, I haven't been able to just walk along and hold your hand."

"Oh," Sara let Grissom take her hand.

"It's nice isn't it?" Grissom asked as they walked.

"Yeah, it is," Sara agreed, a genuine smile on her face, "I just got a great idea."

"What?" Grissom asked.

"We should get a pet, after we move in together. I think we need a dog or a cat or something," Sara suggested.

"That was out of nowhere," Grissom turned to her, "what brought that on?"

"See over there," Sara pointed to a woman walking a puppy, "I want a puppy. Or a cat, whatever. I think it'd be really nice to have a pet together."

"Okay, if that's what you want honey," Grissom said.

"If you don't want a pet, we don't have to get one, I just thought it might be fun," Sara told him.

"No, no, sweetie, I want a pet if you do. I promise," Grissom kissed her, "we just have to wait until we get settled in."

"Of course," Sara smiled, "but for now, let's go eat, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry for lunch."

"Yes I am," Grissom agreed, "let's get something to eat."

"Then maybe we have time to go back to your place and take a nap before work," Sara suggested.

"Good idea. Your doctor's appointment interrupted our sleep," Grissom elbowed her gently.

"Hey, I thought you were enjoying my being able to walk again," Sara shot back.

"Oh I am," Grissom told her, "I am looking forward to you being fully recovered."

Sara was surprised, "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Grissom grinned, "you'll just have to wait and find out."

* * *

Catherine and Lindsey were enjoying another day off together when someone knocked on their door. Lindsey jumped up to answer the door and revealed Warrick.

"Mom, it's Warrick," Lindsey announced.

"Hi Warrick," Catherine smiled, "what do you have there?"

"Oh," Warrick produced a bouquet of flowers, "some pretty flowers for a couple of pretty ladies."

"You brought Mom flowers?" Lindsey gasped.

"Not just your mother, they're for you too," Warrick added.

"Wow, no one has ever given me flowers before," Lindsey eyed the flowers.

"Here, why don't you put these in a vase," Catherine handed the flowers to Lindsey.

"Okay," Lindsey grabbed the flowers and went in search of a vase.

"You didn't have to do that Warrick," Catherine told him when Lindsey was out of earshot.

"I wanted to. I know you two had a rough couple days and I thought the least I could do was bring you some flowers," Warrick waved it off.

"It was very nice of you, thanks," Catherine smiled, "why don't you come in, make yourself more comfortable."

"Oh I don't want to impose," Warrick started.

"No, Lindsey and I were just getting ready to have lunch, I'm sure she won't mind if you join us. She likes you, you know that," Catherine told him.

"I like her too," Warrick said, "how is she doing by the way?"

"The broken arm doesn't seem to slow her down at all, but the ribs are really hurting her, I can tell. Overall, I think she's okay though. Her legs are pretty bruised, but she seems to be walking just fine, so I'm not too worried about her."

"Yeah, Lindsey's a tough kid. She's got a tough Mom to model herself after," Warrick noted.

Lindsey came back in, carrying the vase with flowers in it now, "Where should I put these?"

"It's up to you sweetie, on the kitchen table or wherever you want," Catherine replied.

"I think they should go on the coffee table, that way if anyone comes over they can see them," Lindsey placed the flowers on the table.

"Looks good, Lindsey," Warrick complimented.

"Thank you. And thanks again for the flowers," Lindsey carefully gave him a hug. It was hard to do so without upsetting her broken ribs.

"So, who's ready for lunch?" Catherine asked.

"Oh, Warrick, are you staying for lunch?" Lindsey asked.

"Sure," Warrick replied, "what's on the menu?"

"Actually, I don't feel like making anything, who's up for fast food?" Catherine asked.

"All right," Lindsey smiled, "this is going to be a great day."

A/N: Okay, so I'm going to ask for reader opinion. This isn't a matter of terrible urgency, but I want to know if you see Grissom and Sara with a dog, a cat or something else entirely. Let me know what sort of pet you guys think they should get.


	19. Chapter 19

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 19**

"Oh my God, Sara, what's in this box?" Nick asked as he lifted a box from her living room.

"Mostly books," Sara grinned, "I hope it's not too heavy for you."

"Too heavy? No way. Next time, spread them out though," Nick shook his head and made the trek back down to the parking lot where everyone was helping load up Sara's belongings.

Greg and Warrick came back up from carrying a load down.

"What's next?" Greg asked.

"The couch I guess," Sara gestured at the nearly empty room.

For the most part, no one was allowing Sara to help carry anything. She insisted that she could walk just fine, but they told her she had to just give orders. Grissom, Nick, Warrick and Greg had showed up to help her move all of her stuff out of the apartment. Catherine had promised to try and stop by later.

"Wow, you guys move fast," Catherine noted as she looked around the apartment.

"It might be even faster if I was allowed to help," Sara rolled her eyes, "I've been ordered not to help carry anything."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Brass announced from behind Catherine.

"It is, I feel bad because you guys are all doing the heavy work and I'm just standing around watching," Sara crossed her arms, "I feel useless."

"You're not useless dear," Grissom said, "looks like we're almost done. You showed up right on time Catherine."

"Hey, I have a kid, do any of you have young children at home?" Catherine defended.

"I was kidding," Grissom laughed, "calm down."

"Looks like there's only a few things left," Nick observed, joining the crowd.

"Yeah, but then we get to unload everything again at the house," Greg reminded them.

"You guys all knew what you were getting into when you said you'd help you," Sara told him.

"True," Greg shook his head, "who'd think one woman would have so much stuff though."

"It's mostly books," Nick teased.

"So what? I like to read," Sara said defensively.

"Maybe you would be better if you spent more time reading, Nicky," Grissom suggested.

"Okay people, let's get down to business, shall we?" Catherine said loudly.

"Yeah, only a few more boxes, and then I have to be going," Brass said.

"Got a hot date?" Greg asked.

"Excuse me?" Brass shot Greg the nastiest look.

"I didn't say anything," Greg laughed nervously.

"That's what I thought," Brass narrowed his eyes again.

"Let's get this done so you guys can help out Gil before you all have to go to work," Sara agreed.

"Oh man, we have to help him too," Nick complained.

"So you're willing to help out Sara, but not me?" Grissom pretended to be upset.

"I told you we were both moving," Sara added.

"I was joking," Nick smiled, grabbing a box and heading out of the room.

Everyone else followed suit and grabbed the last few boxes. Sara locked the apartment behind them. She would return later when they were settling into the new house and do the rest of the cleaning and last check to make sure nothing was left behind. Grissom and Sara rode to the new house in their rented truck with all of Sara's belongings. Everyone else followed, except for Brass who had to leave.

The unload was pretty quick because they just took everything in the house and put it down. Sara and Grissom would have plenty of time to sort things out later.

"Well, do you guys want to just to my place and get this over with, or should we go out to lunch first?" Grissom asked.

"I think lunch is a good idea," Sara said.

"I'm not going to argue with food," Greg laughed.

"Me either," Nick agreed.

"All right. Because you guys are helping us, I'm buying," Grissom told them, "and there's no room for argument."

"Free food?" Greg asked, "not getting any argument from me."

"Of course you wouldn't argue," Warrick teased.

"So, what sounds good to everyone?" Grissom asked.

"What's close to here?" Catherine asked.

"I don't know, we just moved in," Sara smiled.

"Very funny," Catherine replied.

The rest of the day went by quickly. They had lunch and had just enough to help Grissom load his furniture and stuff into the moving truck. Then everyone else had to get ready to go to work. That left Grissom and Sara to drive back to the new house and unload everything.

"Well now you're going to have to let me help," Sara announced triumphantly.

"I guess you're right," Grissom smiled, "I know you are more than capable of helping me honey."

"Then why wouldn't you let me do anything earlier?" Sara asked.

"I don't know, I just thought we had more than enough people helping us out. I figured you deserved to take it easy," Grissom explained.

"Let's get moving, I want to get everything inside so we can at least set up the bedroom," Sara said, "we need to at least have somewhere to sleep. I have the feeling it's going to take a while to get settled in here."

"Yeah, but it's going to be worth it," Grissom said, "just think, every day we come home from work, we can be together."

"I know," Sara wrapped her arms around him, "it's going to be great."

"I love you, Sara," Grissom kissed her.

"I love you too," Sara said, "but we should really start moving your stuff."

"You're right," Grissom turned and opened the truck.

"This should be fun," Sara eyed all of Grissom's boxes.

"The sooner we're done getting everything inside, the sooner we can get organized and head to bed," Grissom said.

"Today's been a long day, it will be nice to just lay down and go to sleep," Sara said as she grabbed a box, "let's do this."

A/N: I don't know about any of you, but I've moved a few times in life. It's never fun, but then it is always nice to get settled into the new house. I'm still not sure what kind of pet to give Grissom and Sara, but I appreciate all of your input so far. I have a dog at home, but I desperately want a cat. I love animals! That's why I'm studying to be a veterinarian. Thank you as always for reading.


	20. Chapter 20

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 20**

Catherine was nearly asleep when her cell phone rang, startling her.

"Hello," she answered tiredly.

"Hey, Cath, you weren't sleeping were you?" a familiar voice asked.

"Not quite, what did you want, Warrick?" she asked.

"Sorry. I was just noticing that you and I both have tomorrow night off," Warrick said slowly.

"Okay," Catherine replied, "just get to the point, I'm tired here and I'm not catching on."

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner with me?" Warrick spat out.

"Wasn't expecting that," Catherine said, "I would love to."

"Really? Because I've been feeling something between for a while and I was hoping it wasn't my imagination," Warrick laughed.

"No, I noticed it too," Catherine stifled a yawn.

"And I figured, it might be nice to spend time without Lindsey, or having to worry about where she is," Warrick said, "an actual date."

"Sounds like a plan. What time?" Catherine inquired tiredly.

"Is six okay with you?" Warrick asked.

"Yeah, six should be fine," Catherine told him, "see you then."

"Bye," Warrick hung up.

Catherine hung up her cell and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She was going out on a date with someone that she knew was a nice guy. Someone that she wasn't afraid to have around Lindsey, and someone that she knew Lindsey liked. She had a good feeling about her pending date with Warrick as she fell asleep.

* * *

Sara was finally able to remove her boot entirely, the only sign of her injury remaining was some scarring on her foot. She still had to do daily exercises with the foot as it was still slightly lacking in muscles, but she could walk and wear a normal pair of shoes.

"It feels weird to wear two of the same pair of shoes," Sara laughed.

"It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I remember when I got the call that you were hurt," Grissom reminisced, "you have no idea how scared I was."

"I remember, you told me about it. You didn't know what happened and you feared the worst," Sara said, "but here I am now and you can barely tell anything happened."

"I'm glad it was not a serious injury," Grissom kissed her forehead.

"Kissing in the lab," Ecklie announced from the doorway, "now that's professional."

Grissom sighed loudly, "Can I help you, Conrad?"

"I just wanted a cup of coffee," Ecklie pretended to be innocent.

"Yeah right," Sara muttered under her breath.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Grissom asked.

"Well I guess you two were so busy making out that you didn't realize it's almost time for shifts to switch," Ecklie said haughtily.

"We weren't making out," Sara snapped.

"Either way, kissing in the lab is highly unprofessional," Ecklie crossed his arms.

"What are you going do? Tell on us?" Grissom asked.

"No," Ecklie made a face, "just don't let me see you doing that again."

Once Ecklie was gone, Sara spoke, "There has got to be something wrong with that man."

"Did you like the whole act of 'I'm letting you get away with something'?" Grissom asked.

"He's just mad that there's not actually a rule we were breaking," Sara shook her head.

"I swear he does stuff like that on purpose, it's like he has spies so that he can walk into a room at the perfect moment to annoy me," Grissom said.

"He really does live to annoy you," Sara told him, "everyone can tell he just does things he knows will get on your nerves."

"Well, looks like he was right, ready to go?" Grissom gestured to the clock.

"Okay, we're going to go adopt a cat today right?" Sara asked.

"That's right, we were going to the shelter after work, weren't we?" Grissom said.

"You're sure you want a cat?" Sara asked again.

"Of course I am. We decided a cat was the best fit for us because we both work so much, they're much more independent than dogs," Grissom reminded her.

"I know that, I just wanted to be sure you still want a pet," Sara told him.

"Yes I do," Grissom smiled, "it will be nice to have something waiting for us when we come home from work."

Grissom and Sara drove to the local animal shelter. Sara had insisted that they rescue a cat rather than buying a kitten. The shelter employees told them to feel free to look around at all the pets and then let them know if they were interested in adopting.

Sara quickly found the cat area and drug Grissom along.

"They're all so cute, how can I pick just one?" Sara asked.

"Just watch them, then see which one would suit your personality," Grissom suggested.

Sara watched the cats and finally settled on a small orange cat in the corner, "I think I like that one."

"Really?" Grissom sounded surprised, "I had my eye on that one too."

Sara raised her eyebrows, "Well that settles it, we have to see that cat."

The cat was brought out for Grissom and Sara to interact with. It only took a few minutes for Sara to fall in love.

"We have to adopt this cat," Sara turned to Grissom.

"I agree," Grissom said, stroking the young cat's head.

"That's Orion, he's about a year old. His owners had to move out of state a few weeks ago and they couldn't take him with them," the shelter worker explained, "he's already had all his shots and they had him de-clawed."

"What does it take to adopt him?" Grissom asked.

"Well, an adoption runs 75 to cover the cost of the vaccinations and neutering that we performed when he was brought in," the man said, "you have to fill out paperwork and do a quick interview to make sure you're good people."

"We're doing it," Sara said, "this is the cat I want."

"Me too," Grissom agreed.

"All right," the worker said, "I'll go arrange for everything, you can bring Orion into the interview and adoption paperwork if you'd like."

"Okay," Sara scooped the cat into her arms, "hi Orion. Would you like to come home with us?"

Grissom smiled, "You're already talking to him?"

"You will be soon enough, just you wait and see," Sara laughed.

"I'll know I'm crazy the day I start talking to animals," Grissom shook his head in amusement.

"Because talking to bugs and bodies is totally sane," Sara shot back.

"Yes," Grissom smiled, "that's okay, it's animals where I draw the line."

Sara laughed again, "Okay."

Within an hour, they were on their way with a few supplies to get them started: a carrier, a small bag of food and a couple cat toys. They decided they had better stop at a pet store to pick up the rest of the necessary supplies. They bought a bigger bag of cat food, a food and a water dish, a litter-box and litter, a book on cat care, a few more cat toys, some treats and a cat bed. When they got home, they let the cat loose, but Sara made sure to follow him and make sure he didn't get into trouble. Grissom set up a little spot for the cat's food dish near the kitchen table. Then he put the cat bed in their bedroom, as Sara had insisted on it being there.

"So, do you like his name, or should we change it?" Sara asked when Grissom joined her on the floor.

"I think I like Orion," Grissom said, "you know what it is, don't you?"

"It's a star formation," Sara said, stroking the sleeping cat's side.

"I didn't know you were into astronomy," Grissom raised his eyebrows.

"I'm not, I know a lot of little things like that though," Sara told him, "you have your random bits of trivia, I have mine."

"I love you," Grissom kissed her.

"I love you too," Sara returned the kiss.

A/N: Being sick, computer issues, andan exam kept me from writing for a while. The good news is, I'm well again and next week is my Spring Break, so in theory I will have more time to write! Thank you for your patience and reviews! I decided a cat was the best pet for Griss and Sara because as several reviewers pointed out, with the hours they work a cat is a better fit. I used to have a cat and he was mostly independent. Didn't mind when we went to school/work. He owned our house ;)

Other thing, do you like the cat's name, or should it change? I am open to suggestions.


	21. Chapter 21

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 21**

Sara had just returned from a crime scene with Nick and was heading for Grissom's office. He had called her about an hour ago and insisted that she meet him in his office when she got back.

"See ya later, Nick, thanks for taking our evidence to the vault," Sara called after him.

"No problem, Sara," Nick headed for the vault.

Sara knocked lightly on Grissom's office door.

"Come in," Grissom called.

"Hey boss," Sara sat down with a grin.

"Don't call me boss," Grissom shook his head slightly.

"What did you want to see me for?" Sara asked.

"I have great news," Grissom smiled broadly.

"Well out with it!" Sara prodded.

"I got invited to teach a forensics seminar in San Francisco!" Grissom announced.

"Okay," Sara said slowly.

"I'm bring you with me," Grissom added.

"All right," Sara was confused about how excited Grissom was.

"Sara Sidle! Don't you tell me you forgot!" Grissom said.

"What?" Sara asked more confused than ever.

"It's where we met," Grissom shook his head, "you remember, don't you?"

"Oh! That! Of course I didn't forget," Sara smiled, "I remember. I was a student."

"Not just a student, you were a very bright student. You asked a lot of questions, I knew right away that you were a smart girl," Grissom leaned back in his chair, "I'm glad you didn't forget."

"I had no idea what you were trying to get at," Sara laughed, "I knew we met in San Francisco, how could I ever forget?"

"I don't know. Am I a forgettable guy?" Grissom asked.

"No," Sara snorted, "not by any stretch of the imagination."

"I was thinking, maybe, and it's up to you, but maybe you could help me teach the seminar," Grissom suggested.

"Oh I don't know about that," Sara shook her head, "I don't think I would do well with a large crowd of people. Besides, I'm not big on entomology."

"Sara, you would do fine with a large crowd. And you are a real crime scene investigator, that's all you will need. You will know more than the students. You would just be helping me out anyway, answering questions at the end, nothing too hard," Grissom assured her.

Sara took a deep breath, "I guess I could do it, if it helps you out."

"It will help, I'm really looking forward to this seminar now," Grissom smiled.

"When is it?" Sara asked.

"Next week. We'll be out there for three days," Grissom added.

"Are we going to have any free time, or is it pretty much teaching the whole time?" Sara asked.

"I'm not sure, they're sending me a schedule later. It will mostly depend on whether or not you want to hear some of the other speakers," Grissom explained.

"At any rate, it will be nice to get out of town for a few days," Sara said.

"It will be," Grissom agreed, "especially because we'll be together."

* * *

Catherine and Warrick's first dinner had gone so well, they planned to have dinner again together. Lindsey was very excited that her mother seemed to be getting along with Warrick so well because she liked Warrick a lot. 

"You're going out with Warrick again?" Lindsey asked.

"If you must know, yes I am," Catherine checked her hair in the mirror one last time.

"You look really pretty, Mom," Lindsey assured her.

"Thanks sweetie, you don't mind the babysitter again?" Catherine asked.

"No," Lindsey said, "not really."

"I'm leaving you money to order pizza if you want," Catherine handed her some cash.

"Thank you Mom, have a great night," Lindsey added.

"I will dear," Catherine smiled.

The doorbell rang and Catherine checked herself in the mirror one more time before she answered the door.

"Wow, Cath, you look beautiful," Warrick told her.

"Thanks," she kissed him, "you don't look too bad yourself."

"Ready to go?" Warrick asked.

"Yes, goodnight Lindsey," Catherine called out.

"Night Mom!" Lindsey shouted back from the living room, already engrossed in some movie.

"So, where are we off to tonight?" Catherine asked.

"It's a surprise," Warrick smiled, "you'll find out soon enough."

"You can't tell me?" Catherine teased.

"Do you have to know everything ahead of time?" Warrick asked.

"Fine," Catherine pretended to be angry.

"I'm not telling you, go ahead and pout," Warrick shook his head.

"You know I'm glad we both got tonight off," Catherine said seriously.

"Me too, and there's no one else I'd rather spend the night with," Warrick told her.

"I can't believe we've worked together for so long," Catherine started, "it never even occurred to me that you were right there."

"I think we both had our own personal issues for so long that it was hard to see each other, even when we right there," Warrick agreed, "but I think this might have been worth waiting for."

"We've only been on one date," Catherine laughed.

"But you just pointed out, we've known each other for a long time," Warrick reminded her.

"You're right. When I'm with you, there's not any of that awkwardness you usually feel when you're a date with someone for the first time," Catherine explained.

"I know what you mean," Warrick said, "and we're here."

"This is my favorite restaurant," Catherine said, "how did you know?"

"I heard you mention it once," Warrick told her.

"That was a long time ago, you remember that?" Catherine asked in surprise.

"We're here aren't we?" Warrick asked with a smile.

"I can't believe it," Catherine kissed him, "thank you Warrick. For remembering and bringing me here."

A/N: I had an exam in my microbiology class yesterday, so I didn't have any time to write until today. Then I had trouble writing the Catherine/Warrick portion of this chapter for some reason. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm not sure, but this story might be coming to a close soon. Thanks for reading as always.

And to Star-Shimmered-Dragon: Cats can be prettywild all the way up to a couple years old, it depends on your particular cat how soon they will mellow out. As they get older, they tend to calm down more. The cat will probably be a little calmer at a year than it is right now. Even at 16, my cat would still get wild streaks and run around the house like he'd lost his mind! lol


	22. Chapter 22

**Post-Butterflied**

_Disclaimer_: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

**Chapter 22**

Grissom grabbed Sara's suitcase from the baggage claim and handed it to her.

"What do you have in here, honey?" Grissom teased.

"A few days worth of clothes, it's not that heavy you wimp," Sara laughed.

"Oh, so I'm a wimp?" Grissom asked.

"Yes, but I love you anyway," Sara grinned.

"I love you too, Sara," Grissom shook his head, "let's go pick up our rental car, shall we?"

"So what's on our schedule for today," Sara asked.

"We have to go check in at the hotel, then we go to the university for the guest speaker orientation," Grissom told her, "and they are supposed to be serving us lunch."

"All right, sounds like a plan," Sara said.

"Then tonight we are going to sit on the first lectures. Tomorrow is our turn," Grissom explained, "we can practice tomorrow morning if you want."

"Definitely, I don't want to be up in front of a bunch of people and forget what I'm supposed to be saying and doing," Sara laughed, "that would really convince me to teach again."

"You're going to do fine, just don't let it get to you," Grissom told her, "I've taught seminars for years and you know how quiet I am."

"True," Sara agreed, "and you'll be up there with me the whole time, you're running the show."

"You'll be my lovely assistant," Grissom flashed her a smile.

They reached the car rental desk and Grissom filled out the proper paperwork so they could be on their way to the hotel. It was a short drive to the hotel they were staying at, so they had more time than anticipated to get settled in.

"This room is pretty nice," Sara sat on the edge of the bed.

"Yes," Grissom agreed, "I think the best part is the fact that we don't have to pay for it."

"Which is why I expected maybe the hotel wouldn't be this nice," Sara smiled.

"It's nice to have a few days off work together," Grissom said, "if you hadn't come along with me, it might not have been so nice."

"Are you trying to say you would have missed me?" Sara asked.

Grissom smiled, "Yeah, I guess that's what I was trying to say. After we're done with the seminar stuff for today, would you like to go to dinner?"

"I'd love to," Sara replied.

"Good, I know this great little place to go," Grissom told her, "you'll love it."

"I can't wait," Sara told him.

"Me either," Grissom smiled mischievously.

* * *

Grissom told Sara to dress semi-nicely for their dinner date, so she put on the black dress she had brought along. Before they left, she had the feeling Grissom might try to take her somewhere where she'd have to dress nicely. They were riding in the car for a while and Sara was beginning to wonder just where they were going.

"This looks like a residential area, are you sure you know where you're going?" Sara asked.

"Trust me," Grissom said, "I know where I'm going."

"All right," Sara watched out the window as they passed house after house.

"We're almost there," Grissom told her, making a right turn.

"I don't see any restaurants," Sara turned to him suspiciously.

"Who said anything about a restaurant?" Grissom stopped the car and gave her a big grin.

"You said you knew this great little place," Sara told him.

"Yes, and you just _assumed _I meant a restaurant," Grissom got out of the car and opened her door for her.

"What are we doing here?" Sara asked.

"Just a minute and you'll see," Grissom lead her to the door and a woman opened the door before they had a chance to knock.

"Gil!" the older woman scooped Grissom into her arms, "how are you son?"

"Son?" Sara asked.

"Sara Sidle, this is my mother, Mom, this is the woman I've been telling you about," Grissom introduced them.

"Hello dear," Mrs. Grissom hugged Sara too.

"I thought you told me your mother was deaf," Sara asked.

"Oh I am, but I lost my hearing at a late enough age that I can still speak. I read lips very well. So you don't have to worry about sign language, just make sure I can see your mouth when you talk," Mrs. Grissom explained.

"Let's get inside instead of just standing here on the porch," Grissom suggested.

"Where are my manners? Come on in you two," she stepped aside to allow the younger pair inside.

Sara followed Grissom into the small house and could smell food cooking.

"I told you I knew a nice little place," Grissom winked.

"This was definitely not what I had in mind," Sara smiled, "but I'm glad you brought me here."

"Dinner's nearly ready," his mother announced, "Gil told me you were a vegetarian, so I made some vegetarian soup."

"Sounds great," Sara smiled.

"You'll like it, my mother is a good cook," Grissom said.

"I knew when you were in town that you couldn't resist," his mother smiled, "you always were a sucker for a good home cooked meal."

Grissom and Sara sat down at the table while his mother carried in their dinner. Everyone got their food and started to eat.

"Wow, this is really good," Sara complimented.

"Yes, it's good as always, Mom," Grissom put in.

"Thank you," Mrs. Grissom was pleased, "so Gil tells me you two have worked together for several years."

"Yes, we originally met when I was a graduate student," Sara explained, "then Gil asked me to come help him out in Las Vegas for a week. That week turned into nearly four years."

"We only recently started dating," Grissom added, "both of us were afraid to say anything to each other. It turns out we've been crazy for each other the whole time."

"I'm just glad that Gil found someone, and you seem like a really nice woman," Mrs. Grissom said.

"Thank you," Sara smiled, "I'm glad to finally his mother. Gil keeps to himself so much, I hardly hear anything about his family."

"Gil was always the quiet kid," Mrs. Grissom shook her head, "and apparently he never grew out of it."

"I think it's too late for that Mom," Grissom chuckled, "I don't think it's just a stage that I will grow out of."

"We'll see about that," Sara teased.

They sat around the table and talked for several more hours before Grissom and Sara had to head back to their hotel. They had to get up relatively early to prepare for their seminar the next day.

"Gil, I'm so glad you stopped by, it was good to see you again," Mrs. Grissom placed a kiss on his cheek, "and Sara, I'm so glad I could finally meet you. You know he mentions you every time he writes a letter to me."

"It was great meeting you too," Sara hugged Grissom's mother.

"I hope you two can stop by again some time," Mrs. Grissom said.

"Next time we're in California," Grissom assured her, "in the meantime, I'll be sure to keep writing you letters."

"Goodbye," she waved as they got into their rented car.

A/N: Glad you guys are still enjoying the story, I have had a lot of fun writing it. I'm not sure how many more chapters are left, but it's definitely winding down.


	23. Chapter 23

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: Author looks around, shuffles through papers Nope, still no CSI rights. Darn, and I thought they'd just materialize this time.

**Chapter Twenty Three**

"I'm glad you took me to meet your mother," Sara said as Grissom was in the bathroom getting ready for bed.

"She told me she really liked you," Grissom called out.

"I'm surprised I haven't hardly heard anything about her before, Gris, I didn't even know your mother was deaf," Sara said.

"It never really came up. I don't exactly know a lot about your family either," Grissom came out of the bathroom and leaned on the door frame.

"Yeah, well I don't like to talk about my family," Sara's smile disappeared.

"Why?" Grissom asked, concern flickering across his face.

"It's a long story," Sara shook her head, "one I'd rather not tell."

"Come on, sweetie, you can tell me anything, you know that," Grissom sat next to her on the bed.

Sara sighed and leaned on his shoulder, "Are you sure you want to hear about this?"

"Yes, I am," Grissom stroked her hair, gently.

"Okay, but remember, you asked," Sara told him.

"Please, just tell me about your parents," Grissom coaxed.

Sara squeezed her eyes shut, trying to decide where to start the complicated story of her past, "I haven't seen either of them in nearly twenty years."

"Why?" Grissom pulled away, trying to look into her eyes.

"If I'm going to do this, I want to do it my way. So please just let me tell my story without interruptions," Sara told him seriously.

"All right," Grissom sensed this was very important to her, so he sat back against the headboard and allowed Sara to lean against him once more.

"I was about ten years old when my parents first started to argue. At first it was just stupid little things, but after a couple years, they started to get physical with each other. More than once my dad hurt my mom bad enough to put her in the hospital. He never hurt me though," Sara couldn't help but start to cry.

Grissom wordlessly pulled her closer to him. Sara nuzzled into his shoulder for a minute, taking time to gather herself before continuing.

"I was barely thirteen years old when it started getting really bad. I was afraid to tell anyone how bad their arguments and fighting were getting. One night my dad showed up at home really drunk. He got into a shouting match with mom over something and I hid in my room like I had learned to do to avoid the conflict. Usually they would either get so mad they'd get physical or one of them would just storm out of the house angrily. This time it was different," Sara started crying so hard she couldn't speak.

Grissom continued stroking her methodically, tears forming in his own eyes at Sara's deep pain. He knew there was more to this story, something dark and frightening was coming up, but he had promised not to interrupt her.

Sara cried for a few minutes before continuing her story softly, "They just kept arguing and I heard someone throwing things around. I went down to see what was going on and to see if it was necessary for me to call the cops. I walked into the kitchen just in time to see my mom attack my dad with a knife. She stabbed him to death and I saw the whole thing," Sara stopped her story abruptly and buried her face into Grissom's chest.

Grissom was now allowing his tears to flow freely. He wanted to say something to soothe Sara, anything, but he knew at this point that no words could help the pain she was reliving. He had no idea that Sara had such a tragic childhood. He had always thought her family life was nice and normal. He didn't know what to think.

"My mom is in jail right now. But she was up for parole at twenty years. So in a few months, she might be getting out of jail. My older brother skipped out on the family when I was eleven, I haven't seen or heard from him since either. So the only family I have now is at the lab," Sara finished shakily.

"Sweetie, I don't know what to say," Grissom finally managed to say.

"You don't have to say anything," Sara told him hoarsely.

Grissom sat, dumbfounded as she got up and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. He sat for a moment, entirely unsure of what to do, until he heard her crying in the bathroom. He got up and knocked on the door.

"Sara, can I come in?" he asked.

"Why? You don't want to be with someone so screwed up as me," Sara shouted.

Grissom was shocked to hear her say that and flung the door open, "Sara Sidle, how could you think that? I love you."

"But I'm a mess, just run away before I drag you down with me," she sobbed.

"Sara, no," Grissom took her into his arms, kissing the top of her head, "I love you so much and nothing could ever change that."

"I love you too," Sara whispered, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize about," Grissom assured her, "are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I think I will be," Sara wiped some of the tears from Grissom's cheeks, "are you?"

"As long as I'm with you, I'm fine," Grissom smiled.

Sara couldn't help but return the smile, "I'm so lucky to have a man like you."

"And I'm lucky to have a woman like you," he kissed her.

"I think I'm going to take a shower," she told him.

"Okay," Grissom stood, "I'm going to go organize all of our notes for tomorrow's lecture."

Grissom closed the bathroom door and sat on the edge of their bed. He flopped over onto the bed and closed his eyes for a few minutes. His mind was still wildly trying to process all that had just happened. Sara had always come off as such a strong, independent woman and he never had any idea why she was that way. He was amazed at what she had become, coming from such a destructive background, here she was, a successful crime scene investigator. It also made him realize why she had always been so nervous to bring up her feelings with him. He certainly hadn't helped that out.

* * *

Sara got dressed after taking her shower, and she was feeling a lot better. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off shoulders. Of course, she had the feeling Grissom would never look at her the same way, but she had to tell someone. She had been carrying the burden of being "the girl whose mother killed her father" alone for almost twenty years. She took a deep breath and realized just how emotionally drained and tired she was. 

She stepped back out into the room and spotted Grissom laying on the bed, nearly asleep.

"Getting ready for our lecture, huh?" she smiled at him.

"Hmm?" he asked groggily.

"I thought you said you were going to get ready for our lecture," Sara teased, "and here you are nearly asleep on the bed."

"I guess I was more tired than I realized," he sat up slowly.

"It's okay, I don't know about you, but I'm ready for bed," she yawned.

"Me too," Grissom stood and pulled back the blankets.

They crawled into bed together and Sara wrapped her arms Grissom. Grissom wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"I love you," he kissed her.

"Love you too," Sara whispered.

"Good night," Grissom yawned.

"Night," Sara mumbled, already falling asleep.


	24. Chapter 24

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: Author looks around, shuffles through papers Nope, still no CSI rights. Darn, and I thought they'd just materialize this time.

**Chapter 24**

For a few blissful moments, Sara was unaware of exactly where she was. She just enjoyed the comfort and warmth of Grissom being so close to her. Eventually she knew she'd open her eyes and remember where she was and what she was doing. For a few minutes, she just wanted to enjoy the plain uncomplicated world of not quite being awake or asleep.

"Morning sweetie," Grissom kissed her.

"Mmm. Morning," she mumbled.

"How did you sleep last night?" he asked.

"Pretty good, actually," she slowly opened her eyes.

"Good, do you think you're ready for the lecture, or should I plan on going solo?" he questioned.

"No, I came along just so I could teach with you," Sara sat up, "I can still help you out."

"Are you sure? Because if you don't want," Grissom started.

"I'm fine, we're going ahead as planned, I'm sure of it," she cut him off.

"Okay, well I'm going to shower since I didn't last night, I'll see you when I get out," he slid out from under the blankets, temporarily allowing the cool room air to hit Sara's legs.

Sara flipped the blankets back over her body and laid back down on the bed for a few minutes. She finally decided she had better get up or she was going to fall asleep again. She got slowly got dressed and waited for Grissom to be finished in the bathroom.

"Aren't you looking handsome?" Sara asked as he emerged, wearing nice clothes.

"I have to look nice, it's part of teaching," Grissom straightened his collar.

"I like it," Sara smiled.

"Don't get too used to it, I'm not dressing this way at work," Grissom shook his head.

"That's a shame," Sara slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

* * *

The lecture had gone well and Sara had been surprised at how comfortable she had been in front of the large crowd of students. She figured it was the fact that Grissom was always nearby. After the seminar, several students even cornered her and asked her a lot of questions. She answered most of them with ease and found she actually liked knowing she was helping teach the students. The feeling of having students that were interested in hearing everything she had to say was great. 

"Ready to go?" Grissom asked.

Sara was surprised to find that he had packed up all of their stuff and was ready to leave, "Wow, I didn't realize I was taking questions for that long. I'm sorry guys, but I have to be going."

"Thanks for staying and answering questions," one student said, "a lot of the guest lecturers are on such a tight schedule that they don't have time to."

"Yeah, it was really cool hearing from two real criminologists," another student said, "thanks."

"You're welcome," Sara smiled, "I'm glad you enjoyed our lecture."

"Was that so bad?" Grissom asked as they walked away.

"No, I really enjoyed it. I'm glad you made me come with you," Sara told him.

"I didn't make you, I strongly suggested it, that's all," he grinned, "the students seemed really engaged when you did your part of the lecture."

"They loved your bug stuff too," she teased, "that's far more interesting than my piece."

"Well, the next lecture is in twenty minutes, do we go sit in, or should we just get out of here? Go eat or something," Grissom suggested.

"As much as it would be fascinating to hear another forensic scientist speak, I think I'm going to have to say we should ditch this place," Sara smiled.

"Fine with me, I've been to more than enough lecture series, it's always the same basic things, more interesting to you if you're still a student," he told her.

They got to their car and Sara opened the trunk so that Grissom could put their box of lecture materials in. Grissom closed the trunk and took Sara's hand.

"Let's walk to that old coffee shop we met at a few times," Grissom suggested, "it's only a couple blocks away."

"Okay," Sara agreed, "I haven't been back since the last time we were there."

"I remember," Grissom said, "you were becoming a CSI and you weren't sure where you were going. So we said goodbye."

"At the time I thought I just had a 'schoolgirl' crush on you, but when you called me a few years ago to come to Vegas, I jumped on the chance. I realized after working side by side with you for a while, that it was more than a simple crush. I was just afraid for the longest time you wouldn't return my feelings," she explained as they walked.

"I thought at the time, it was wrong to be attracted to a student of one of my lectures. Then when Holly Gribbs was killed, I knew you were just the person to call in to investigate the situation. I never thought you'd stick around for four years, but I am really glad you did. I'm only sorry neither one of us said anything sooner," he said.

"Oh well, we can either sit here and think about what we might have had if we weren't both such big chickens, or we can be glad that we are together now," Sara told him.

"You're so right, you have no idea how lucky I feel to have you," Grissom turned to her, "I really mean it, Sara."

"I do know how you feel, I feel the same way," Sara leaned over and kissed him.

"We're just two lucky people then, aren't we?" Grissom laughed.

"There it is, it looks the same on the outside," Sara pulled open the door and held it for Grissom.

"Thank you, you know the guy's supposed to do that," he teased.

"You think I can't hold a door open for you?" she asked.

"Wow. It looks just the same inside too," he paused, causing Sara to bump into him.

"Exactly the same. This takes me back," she looked around, "hey look, our table is free."

"How convenient is that," Grissom lead her to their old table.

"This is officially bizarre if it's the same wait staff as before," Sara laughed.

"I hope not, the owners were pretty old then, I can't imagine they're still here," Grissom said.

A young, college-aged woman came to their table, "Do you folks need a menu or do you already know what you want?"

They ordered the same coffee they both had back so long ago. Aside from the waitress, the coffee shop was exactly the same as it had been so many years ago. They got their drinks and reminisced about the time they had spent together there.

"This trip has turned out amazing," Sara sipped her coffee.

"I know, it's been so much better than I could have imagined," Grissom agreed, "I'm so glad I didn't come alone."

"To think I could have been working some boring murder case back in Vegas," Sara laughed.

"And I could have been all alone here in San Francisco. I would have been thinking about you the whole time anyway," he told her.

"I would have missed you too," Sara leaned across the small table and kissed him.

"I've been thinking a lot the past couple days," Grissom said slowly.

"Oh yeah," she said suspiciously.

"I love you. I spend most of my time with you, and there's no one else I'd rather be spending all this time with. What I'm trying to get at, and I know I'm terrible at this, I think we should get married. Will you marry me Sara Sidle?" he asked.

Sara was frozen in place as Grissom had pulled out a beautiful diamond ring while he spoke. She realized she was just staring at him and he was getting more and more nervous while he waited.

"Of course I will," Sara jumped up and threw her arms around him, "I love you."

After hugging and kissing, Grissom carefully slipped the ring on her finger.

"You scared me for a minute there," Grissom laughed nervously, "you were quiet for a little too long."

"I was just so shocked, I couldn't speak," Sara now started to cry.

"Why are you crying?" Grissom asked, thoroughly confused.

"I'm happy, I'm really happy, I can't help it," she tried to wipe away her tears.

"I'm glad that you're happy," he kissed her again.

"I couldn't be happier," she whispered.

"Let's go back to the hotel," he suggested.

"Okay," she stood and took his hand again as they walked back to their car.

A/N: I just realized that this is officially the longest story I have written. There was a tie for second longest with two 21 chapter stories. I can't believe how long this story is, I never thought it would last this long. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this!


	25. Chapter 25

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: Does anyone actually read these? I guess just in case I should note that I do not now, nor will I ever own the rights to CSI.

**Chapter Twenty Five**

Grissom and Sara decided to also ditch the last day of the seminar and spent the day out enjoying their time together away from work. They stopped by to see Mrs. Grissom one more time as they wanted her to be the first one to hear their good news. She was very thrilled with Grissom's decision to marry Sara as she had liked her the instant they met. Their trip was over soon and they had to fly back to Las Vegas.

"I wonder how everyone is going to react to our news," Sara mused, "how should we break it to them?"

"I don't know," Grissom said, "we could wait and see how long until someone notices the ring, but we're dealing with CSIs here. They pay attention to detail."

"True, we should probably just come out and announce it when we go to work tomorrow," Sara said.

"Frankly, I don't care what everyone else thinks," Grissom kissed her, "because I love you and no one else's opinion on that matter is really important."

"I bet Ecklie will have a field day with this, how much do you want to bet that he will try to get us in trouble?" Sara rolled her eyes.

"Who cares about him? We've proven that we can work together while dating, so what would marriage change about that? No matter what, we love each other and in the end, that's what's important," Grissom reminded her.

"I keep asking myself how I ended up with such a wonderful man," she smiled, "I must be the luckiest woman alive."

"Ha," he spat out, "I was thinking just about the same thing. How did I get such a perfect woman?"

"I'm actually kind of looking forward to seeing what kind of reactions we get from our co-workers," she said, "it could turn out to be amusing."

"Yes it could," he agreed.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but did you just say what I thought you just said?" Nick sputtered.

"Why? Was I not speaking clearly enough?" Sara laughed.

"Congratulations!" Catherine flew over to the couple and embraced them both.

"Wow, Grissom's getting married, never thought I'd see the day," Warrick chuckled.

"I've got even better news," Greg started, "okay, well maybe not, but I found a permanent replacement for me in the DNA lab. As soon as I'm finished training her, I'm going to be able to devote all my time to becoming a CSI."

"Good for you Greg," Sara told him.

"Oh and uh, congrats on that whole marriage thing," Greg added with a laugh, "sorry to detract from your moment, I couldn't hold it in any longer."

"That's a beautiful ring, Sara," Catherine took her hand and admired the ring.

"I picked that out myself," Grissom added.

"You have wonderful taste," Catherine said.

"Thank you," Grissom smiled.

"So have you guys even began to think about setting a date yet?" Nick asked.

"Hasn't even crossed my mind," Sara laughed.

"Mine either," Grissom added, "don't worry, you'll all be invited though, so you'll know when we know."

"I'm stuck on the fact that you two are actually getting married," Nick shook his head.

"It's hard to believe. If you told me a year ago that it was going to happen, I would have checked you into a mental hospital," Warrick laughed.

"I had the feeling it was coming some day," Catherine said, "of course I guess I know these two better than they know themselves."

"Oh really?" Grissom asked.

"I knew you two would end up together before you did!" Catherine reminded them.

"If you knew, how come you didn't let us in on it?" Sara joked.

"I was waiting for you two to come to your senses on your own. Didn't know it was going to take this long," Catherine teased.

"We should have been taking bets on it," Greg laughed.

"Yeah, I think that might have been fun," Warrick agreed.

"Hey, hey! We're standing right here you guys!" Sara reminded them.

"Aw, we're just teasing you," Nick smiled, "and boy is it fun."

"Go ahead, have your fun, just keep in mind who assigns cases," Grissom smirked.

"Well I for one am glad that you guys are together, both of you are so much more loose and fun to be around," Greg said.

"Yeah, we're really good for each other," Sara smiled at Grissom.

"I couldn't agree more," Grissom kissed her briefly, just in case Ecklie or someone else was around that wasn't wild about their relationship.

"Oh! We're so caught up in your news that I forgot to ask, how was your seminar?" Catherine asked suddenly.

"It went well," Grissom said.

"At least the one part we were actually present for," Sara laughed, "we basically gave our own presentation and skipped out on the rest of it.

"You mean to tell me you were playing around when you were on CSI time?" Warrick joked.

"Technically, we didn't get paid by CSI for the seminar, so it was fine," Grissom corrected, "and those forensics seminars can be so boring."

"Wow, did Grissom just say 'forensics' and 'boring' in the same sentence?" Nick pretended to be shocked.

"If you've been to one lecture, you've been to them all. At least to people at our experience level. I don't know if you've noticed, but we've all been out of college for a little while now," Grissom shot back.

"Grissom took me to meet his mother while we were there," Sara said.

"You met his mom?" Catherine asked, "I've never met her and I've known him for longer."

"You've also never been to California with me," Grissom told her, "I wanted my mother to meet the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with before I proposed to her. She loved Sara."

"I'm glad you guys enjoyed your little vacation because we're in the middle of a fun case here," Catherine sighed, "we found a body dump site in the desert. So far we've dug up five bodies. All of them male, around the same age. I'm sure you'll be joining us on the case, I can brief you on it before we head out tonight."

"Sounds like we came back just in time then," Grissom said, "it is almost time for work. I better go to my office and grab assignments."


	26. Chapter 26

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: I've had this in here plenty, I doubt it's even necessary at this point.

**Chapter 26**

Sara and Grissom joined the rest of the nightshift in the desert that night. Catherine was more than happy to have some fresh eyes on the evidence. They were still sifting through massive amounts of earth, trying to make sure nothing was left behind. Having two new people on the site was going to hopefully help out.

"Ms. Willows! We've got another one!" a young man called out frantically.

"Damn it," Catherine muttered, jogging toward the cadet who was waving her over, "don't touch it, you know the drill!"

Grissom and Sara had also heard the cadet call out and wanted to know what they were dealing with. They had briefly had time to read over the field notes taken thus far.

"Wait a minute, this one's not buried," Catherine knelt down closer to the body, careful to check for footprints first, "this looks like the killer's signature, but the bodies have all been buried so far."

"Perhaps the killer was here during the day, didn't have time to finish the job before we came out," Grissom suggested.

"Yeah, if this is in the news at all," Sara said, "the killer would have to be pretty bold to come out here knowing that we would be around."

"I think I've got a foreign hair," Catherine pulled a long, blonde hair off the man's shirt, "it definitely doesn't belong to our vic. This is the first time we've found anything. The rest were all buried and any evidence was lost in the dirt."

"I'm going to follow these tracks," Sara announced, "they're not ours or the cadet's."

Grissom and Catherine barely noticed as Sara walked away, pausing for the occasional pictures as she went. In fact, both were so engrossed in collecting evidence that they jumped when David Phillips arrived to take the body.

"Hey guys," David greeted them.

"Don't sneak up on people like that," Catherine gasped.

"I didn't think I was sneaking," David defended.

Grissom, who had visibly flinched as well, spoke, "Get a liver temp for us, please David."

"Sure thing," David knelt down next to them.

Grissom stepped back to allow David better access to the body. As he stood, he felt a few cool raindrops hit his skin.

"Rain!" Catherine shouted and suddenly everyone around flew into action.

Grissom grabbed his camera and quickly took a few more pictures of the body. Sara came running back to the scene and helped as everyone picked up their stuff and frantically tried to clear the area. Everyone ran for the cover of their vehicles and discovered they were soaking wet.

"I hate the rain," Catherine grumbled, "not only am I soaking wet, but it ruined our crime scene."

"Circumstances out of our control," Sara told her.

"Yeah, there's no sense getting really upset over the rain. We can't do anything about it. I know it's frustrating when our crime scene is ruined, but there's nothing we can do about it," Grissom said.

"You're right, it's just really frustrating because this is the first time we've found a body with uncontaminated evidence and it rains," Catherine sighed.

"The thing with these serial cases is to try and remain calm, keep your cool and be patient," Grissom told her.

"Remember what happened with the strip strangler. We got rushed because of the FBI and almost screwed it up," Sara reminded her.

"You know what, let's stop and get some coffee on our way back, my treat," Grissom offered, "we can go back to the lab and sit down and talk about everything you've found so far. That way the night is not a total wash."

* * *

Sara was in the middle of a bad day at work a few days later and was on a warpath. Everyone knew she was in a bad mood and to steer clear. She stormed into the locker room, so upset that she hadn't even noticed that Grissom had just slipped out. She opened her locker and immediately froze at the sight in front of her. There was a bouquet of beautiful red roses with a card attached. A smile forming on her face, she grabbed the flowers and carefully took the card out. It had a simple note scrawled inside in Grissom's handwriting:

"_Sara, _

_You're having such a bad day, I thought you needed some flowers. _

_I love you,_

_Gil"_

Suddenly all of her anger and sadness melted away. She slammed her locker shut, forgetting whatever she had been in there for. She ran to Grissom's office, finding him sitting at his desk, pretending to be engrossed in some research.

"I love you," she set the flowers on his desk and threw her arms around him.

"What?" Grissom couldn't his smile.

"Can't I just say how much I love you?" Sara kissed him.

"I take it you liked the flowers?" Grissom grinned.

"Yes, you're so sweet. How did you know that'd make me feel better?" Sara asked.

"I don't know, I had a hunch you'd like it," Grissom explained, "and I take it I was right."

"Just when I thought today couldn't get any worse, I open locker to find a bouquet of beautiful roses," Sara said, "and I thought I had you all figured out when you go and do something like this."

"It's because I love you," Grissom kissed her.

"I just can't stop thinking how lucky I am to have you," Sara stood.

"I know the feeling," Grissom grinned.

"I better go apologize to Nicky, I almost bit his head off earlier," Sara laughed, "thanks again for making my day better."

"Sweetie, I'd do anything if I thought it might make you happy," Grissom said as she left.

Sara walked toward the break room where she heard the other CSIs talking noisily. She entered and was not surprised when immediately everyone grew quiet. She decided to play on her earlier bad mood and slammed things around as she poured herself a cup of coffee, but she couldn't keep herself from smiling as she felt all their eyes on her back.

"Look, guys, I'm sorry. I know I was in a really bad mood earlier, I was just having a rough day," Sara apologized.

"Well that's got to be the fastest emotional turnaround I've ever seen, what gives?" Warrick asked.

"It's simple actually," Sara explained as she joined her friends, "I opened my locker and found a bouquet of roses."

"If I knew it was that easy, I would have ripped up some of the flowers at the scene and given them to you," Nick joked.

"Very funny. They were from Grissom and he just reminded me how loved I was," Sara told them.

"Ah, I remember being in love like that," Catherine smiled knowingly, "I just hope your marriage turns out much better than mine ever did."

"Well, you've always got a possibility of a second chance, you know I'll treat you like you deserve to be treated," Warrick said.

"Okay, you guys are flinging a little bit too much love around for my taste," Greg pretended to gag, "I'm going to go check up on the new techie."

All the CSIs burst into laughter as their younger counterpart bolted from the room.

"Makes me wish I had a girl just so I could torture him too, it's fun," Nick laughed.

A/N: Between the writer's block and the whole rest of the world, I had a hard time getting this chapter down. I'm not sure how much is left of this story, but I think it is finally coming to a close soon. You guys have no idea how much I really appreciate the kind reviews, I know I always say it, but it's because I mean it and there's no other way to say it!


	27. Chapter 27

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: Coocookachu (don't ask, even I'm not sure about this one), I don't own a thing when it comes to the rights of CSI.

**Chapter 27**

"Okay, Catherine, I know nothing about dresses or anything like that, so as my maid of honor, I'm asking you for some major help," Sara pleaded.

"I'm glad you asked, I was afraid you might have me wearing some hideous dress," Catherine teased.

"Thanks," Sara laughed, "but this is exactly why I asked you."

"I'd love to help you," Catherine grinned, "so has Grissom decided on a best man?"

"No, and I don't know how he's going to do it, no matter who he asks, the others will be upset," Sara shook her head, "lucky me that there's only one other woman on nightshift."

"Oh, so this is just a matter of convenience for you? You don't actually consider me a good friend," Catherine teased.

"Yes, that's it, I'm sorry, does that fact bother you?" Sara could barely contain her laughter.

"I wasn't expecting that," Catherine laughed, "but seriously, I'm glad to help you out. Have thought about any sort of color theme or anything? Or are we dealing with a blank slate here?"

"Blank slate," Sara told her, "I told you, I know nothing."

"You know what, I think we need to visit a bridal shop, so at least you can get an idea what you're up against," Catherine stood, "we've still got a couple hours before work."

"Right now?" Sara asked.

"Yes, you have no idea how much work goes into a wedding, it's not all easy. Come on, it's not going to kill you to do a little shopping," Catherine practically dragged her friend out the door of the restaurant they were sitting in.

* * *

"Guys, look, I'm going to get right to it, I have to pick a best man, but I don't know how to do it without offending someone," Grissom explained, "I really don't know what to do."

"Okay. What are we supposed to do?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, are you trying to say you want us to decide for you?" Warrick asked.

"No, I'm just saying, I have no idea what to do," Grissom shook his head, "I need to do this, but I'm lost. I've never had to pick anyone over anyone else before."

"It really doesn't matter to me, man, whoever you pick, I understand it's because you have to have just one," Nick offered.

"Yeah, whoever you decide on, we know it's not because you like one of us better than the other," Warrick said.

"Thanks guys, I guess that will make me feel a little less guilty about whoever I choose," Grissom sighed and pushed his plate aside, "lucky Sara. At least the decision isn't hard for her."

"Of course the girls always have to worry about a lot more than we do, with dresses and all," Nick smirked, "don't tell me you're jealous of that."

"No," Grissom laughed, "I guess that's one thing to be happy about. So where did Greg say he was? I thought he was going to come."

"I don't know," Warrick shrugged, "I thought he'd be here too."

"Maybe he was feeling a little intimidated. You know, we've all been CSIs for a long time and we work together often whereas he's just started his CSI training," Nick suggested.

"Just because he's new doesn't mean I don't want him here. I wouldn't have invited him if I didn't like him," Grissom said, "oh well. I have the feeling Sara is going to get on my case if I don't decide soon."

"Are you kidding? Sara? If anyone knows as little or less about weddings than you, it's Sara," Nick laughed.

"If it wasn't for Catherine, I think she might be completely lost," Warrick chuckled.

"What was I thinking? I should know Sara isn't into all this fancy stuff. At least it's only a small ceremony," Grissom smiled, "I have the feeling if it was all up to her, we wouldn't make a big deal out of this at all."

"Yeah, but for most people, they only get married once. She may not act like it, but if she goes through with all this 'fancy stuff' she'll be grateful for it later," Nick said.

"I suppose. So do you think the girls are having a more productive meeting than we are?" Grissom asked, checking his watch.

"Are you kidding? If I know women, they've got this whole thing planned out already," Warrick laughed.

"Really?" Grissom looked worried.

"Maybe, but don't worry about. We're just a bunch of guys, they won't expect much out of us," Nick smiled.

* * *

Sara managed to make it through an hour and a half of looking at dresses with Catherine. She couldn't believe how many styles and colors of dresses there were and the ridiculous amounts of money they charged for them. They had looked at bridesmaid dresses for a little while, then Catherine insisted they look at dresses for Sara. When they arrived at the lab, she practically ran away from Catherine.

She spotted Grissom in his office and slipped inside, looking harried.

"You okay there?" Grissom noticed as she plopped down in front of him.

"Oh my God," Sara moaned, "you wouldn't believe how many different kinds of dresses there are."

A smile made its way across Grissom's face, "That much fun, huh?"

Sara glared at him, "Can't we just skip this whole process?"

"Come on, sweetie, you agreed that you wanted to do this the traditional way," Grissom reminded her.

"Can I plead temporary insanity?" Sara joked.

"At least you know who your maid of honor is. I still don't know how I'm going to choose a best man," Grissom said.

"About that, I was thinking, and of course it's entirely up to you, but I think you could go with Warrick. That way he and Catherine would be walking down the aisle together right before us. You know, it might give them an idea," Sara told him conspiratorially.

"Where do you get ideas like that?" Grissom shook his head, "hmm. Maybe it's not such a bad idea."

"You don't think Nicky will be too upset if you don't pick him?" Sara asked.

"No, they both said they didn't care who I pick," Grissom told her.

"Besides, he will still be at the wedding. I'm just afraid your portion of the guest list will be longer than mine," Sara suddenly frowned, "I don't even have any family to invite."

Grissom stood and moved around his desk to embrace her, "Honey, I love you and it doesn't matter how many guests you bring. What matters is we love each other right? I know it probably hurts not to have any family to bring along, but once we're married, you'll have all the family you need in me."

Sara looked into his eyes, "You're right. I love you so much."

"So, Catherine's pretty much in charge of this, isn't she?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah," Sara smiled, "I have no idea what I'm doing. She's been married before. She knows what's going on when it comes to these sort of things."

"Just don't let her boss you around too much," Grissom chuckled, "because it is our wedding after all."

"Well, with any luck, she won't let me screw things up too much," Sara joked.

A/N: Go figure, when I actually want to write this, I get a life and get too busy to write! I'm thinking maybe two or three more chapters to this. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to end it, so give it a little time before the next update comes along. The end of this chapter is all the farther I have written at the moment. Decisions, decisions!


	28. Chapter 28

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: The only CSI stuff I own is seasons 1-4 on DVD, but that doesn't entitle me to a darn thing...

**Chapter 28**

About a week before the wedding, Grissom and Sara decided to have a get-together with all of their friends. Warrick, Catherine, Nick, Greg, and Brass all met at their house to have dinner and hang out for a while. When their meal was finished, someone had the brilliant idea of playing a game of Monopoly. Not even an hour into the game and Greg and Sara had already gone bankrupt.

"No way," Warrick cursed as he landed on Catherine's hotel on Boardwalk for the second time in a row, "that's just not possible."

"Oh it's possible," Catherine smirked, "now pay up."

"I already stayed there last time, can't I get a discount?" Warrick asked.

"Nope, sorry dear, pay the full amount," Catherine told him.

"Come on, you won't give your old pal Warrick a deal?" he pleaded.

"I'm not breaking the rules, not even for you," Catherine insisted, "now pay up!"

"Fine," Warrick grumbled and counted out his cash. By the time he paid Catherine, he had about 4 left.

Grissom, who was in jail for the third time, paid the 50 fee to get out of jail and rolled the dice. He counted the spaces and landed on the Community Chest.

"You've got to be kidding me," Grissom's face fell, " 'Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200'. I give up. I'm not leaving jail until I roll doubles now."

"Boy, Grissom just can't stay out of trouble," Brass laughed.

"Okay, Jim, it's your turn, you're more than welcome to stay at the Boardwalk Hotel," Catherine teased.

"With any luck, I'll just miss those spaces," Brass rolled, "what'd I tell you? I landed on Go."

"You got lucky this time," Catherine grinned and took the dice after paying Brass for landing on Go.

"You know what, I'm thinking Miss Banker over here has been slipping herself bills," Nick accused, "look at all that money."

"No, man, that's just all of my money," Warrick grumbled.

"How dare you accuse me of cheating?" Catherine pretended to be hurt, "just because you're losing."

"I am not losing, I have more money than Warrick," Nick defended, grabbing the dice from the board.

"Do you guys realize how ridiculous you sound?" Sara asked, snickering from her seat behind Grissom.

"You sound like little kids," Greg laughed.

"Oh God, we're really bad if _Greg_ thinks we sound like little kids," Warrick said.

"Hey!" Greg snapped.

"You asked for it," Nick grinned.

"Maybe we should stop this and do something else," Grissom suggested, "they are right, we're arguing over a simple board game."

"Oh sure, you're all quitters when I'm winning," Catherine shook her head.

"Yes, that's why we want to quit, it's a conspiracy against you, Cath," Warrick teased.

"Okay, so if we quit, what are we doing?" Catherine asked.

"We could play a more grown-up game, like poker," Nick suggested.

"We could play strip poker," Greg added.

"Yeah right," Sara crossed her arms, "you just want to see me and Catherine take our clothes off."

"Exactly," Greg snickered.

"Excuse me," Grissom raised his eyebrows.

"Uh…I forgot what I was saying," Greg laughed nervously.

"Thought so," Grissom placed an arm over Sara's shoulders.

"Well I hate to break this party up, but I just got paged to work," Brass stood up.

"It's all right Jim," Grissom smiled.

"Thanks for coming," Sara hugged him.

"Good night, you guys," Brass left.

* * *

After Brass had to leave, the remaining CSIs had decided to watch a movie. Eventually, everyone had to leave for work. The night started off slowly, which was fine because everyone was in such a good mood. By midnight a couple cases came in and everyone but Grissom and Sara were out in the field.

"Still no cases?" Sara asked, leaning on Grissom's office doorframe.

"No, sweetie, if you really want you can go join Greg and Catherine," Grissom offered.

"It's okay, I just thought maybe the slow start was the calm before the storm or something," Sara sat down across from him.

"I hope not," Grissom said.

"Are you as nervous as I am?" she blurted out suddenly.

"I guess that depends on how nervous you are," he smiled, "but probably. I'm incredibly nervous, but every time, I remind myself, I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with you."

"That's true," she returned the smile, "I guess if you think about it that way, it's not so bad. I'm just afraid I'm going to somehow screw things up."

"Honey, no matter what you do, you can't screw things up so much I'd want to leave you. Nothing will make me leave, if that's what you're worried about," he assured her.

"I love you," Sara moved around the desk and kissed him.

"I love you too," Grissom returned.

"Our wedding is in a week," Sara said suddenly, "that's so soon."

"Not to alarm you, but I was thinking, who's going to walk you down the aisle?" Grissom suddenly asked.

"I don't know," she shook her head, "I can't believe I forgot that part."

"It's almost too late to ask anyone," he told her.

"Even if it wasn't late, I don't know who to ask," Sara sighed, "I wish my dad was still around sometimes, this is definitely one of them."

"We'll figure something out dear," Grissom assured her, squeezing her hand, "don't worry about it."

"How could I forget such an important thing?" Sara asked.

"Hey, calm down, no need to get yourself all worked up over a minor detail. If worst comes to worst, you don't have to have someone walk you down the aisle. I don't care if our wedding doesn't conform exactly to the traditional idea," Grissom said.

"You're right, it's not a big deal," Sara took a deep breath, "I'm going to go look at some old case files. Call me if anything comes in."

"Sure thing," Grissom turned back to his work.

A/N: I was so disappointed today. I was supposed to be doing DNA fingerprinting to solve an imaginary crime in my biology lab today, but the company that delivers supplies to my university didn't deliver the restriction enzymes we need for the experiment. So the lab is postponed for two weeks. The one lab I actually wanted to do! It's silly how excited I was over a lab, but I love this science stuff. And it'd be cool to get an idea what Greg used to do all the time when he was a DNA tech. Anyway, thanks as always for reading!


	29. Chapter 29

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to CSI blah blah blah. Don't sue me!

**Chapter 29**

The very next morning, a brilliant idea struck Sara. She was with Grissom and the rest of the team enjoying breakfast. She put down her fork and waited for her chance to speak.

"Hey guys, I just had a really good idea. Grissom brought up last night that there's no one to walk me down the aisle because my dad died when I was a kid. So I've been thinking all night about what I should do. Then it hit me, since Nick isn't doing anything in the wedding, I should have him walk me down the aisle," Sara explained.

Everyone turned to Nick who was frozen with his fork midway to his mouth, "Wow, Sara. I'd love to do that for you."

"Good. You're like a brother to me. And I thought you'd be the perfect man for the job," Sara said.

A smile spread across Nick's face as he had more time to process the idea.

"That's actually a really good idea, Sara," Grissom told her.

"Good for you, maybe. Now who's the only one not in the wedding party?" Greg crossed his arms.

"I don't know, maybe if we wanted to get everyone involved in the wedding, we could make Brass an usher and Greggo there could be your other bridesmaid," Warrick suggested laughing.

The look that Greg gave Warrick at the moment was priceless. If looks could kill, Warrick would have been dead on the spot. Of course this only made everyone else at the table laugh harder. Greg slammed his fork down on the table and continued to glare at everyone.

"Come on Greg, I thought you were the one around here with a sense of humor," Sara snickered.

"Now that was funny," Nick agreed, "come on man, you know you want to laugh."

"Very funny," Greg shook his head, but could no longer hide his laughter, "suddenly, I'm glad I am not involved in the wedding party."

"I thought you said you didn't mind not being involved," Catherine reminded him.

"I don't," Greg said, "I was just teasing you guys."

"Good, because there was really no way to include everyone," Grissom said, "as much as we want to."

"You made an effort to get Nick involved," Greg smirked.

"It was a last minute idea," Sara told him.

"I know, I know, just giving you a hard time," Greg laughed.

"Well, maybe the rest of us will have conveniently forgot our wallets," Warrick said.

"Whoa, now," Greg put up his hands, "you can't just run out on the bill here."

Eventually Grissom, Sara and Nick were the last three people left at the table.

"I'm really glad you picked me to walk you down the aisle, Sara. It's quite an honor," Nick thanked her.

"Well, you know I thought it wasn't right for you to be left out. I know Gris had a hard time picking a best man and I've been hoping for a way to include you all along. Then when he reminded me that I didn't have someone walking me down the aisle, I knew I had the perfect job for you," Sara told him.

"Thanks for thinking of me. I should probably get going, I need to catch up on some sleep," Nick stood and hugged Sara.

* * *

The night before the wedding was the rehearsal dinner. Grissom, Sara, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Brass, Greg, Lindsey and Mrs. Grissom were all present. They only wanted a small ceremony with their closest friends. They did a quick run-through of the ceremony, with Greg standing in for the minister and then had their dinner.

"Am I the only one who thinks it's great that Ecklie's team gets to work a double?" Catherine asked as they ate.

"No, I think it's just what Ecklie deserves," Nick chuckled, "for all those times he was an ass to Grissom or any of us."

"You know they'd be laughing if it was us that had to work for them," Greg said.

"I take it you don't like these people much?" Mrs. Grissom asked, "I'm only catching bits of your conversation."

"No, Conrad Ecklie is the dayshift supervisor and he's not a very nice person," Grissom explained.

"Well, let's stop worrying about that and celebrate that you're getting married!" she told her son.

"Yes, congratulations you guys," Warrick smiled.

"We're all happy for you," Nick added.

"Never thought we'd see the day," Brass teased.

"He's right," Catherine agreed, "for the longest time no one thought you guys would ever end up together, let alone getting married."

"Weren't you guys taking bets?" Sara asked.

"No," Greg said a little too quickly.

"Who won that pool?" Grissom asked.

"Brass did, by default. We were all pretty off," Warrick shook his head.

"I could have won that," Mrs. Grissom added quietly.

"What?" Grissom turned wide-eyed to his mother.

"I meant if I lived closer to you, I know you very well, Gil," she smiled.

Everyone laughed at this comment, as it had been very unexpected. They spent the rest of the evening chatting and finally headed home to get rest before the big day. Mrs. Grissom was staying with her son and Sara. She went to bed early, leaving the couple to talk.

"Well, tomorrow's the big day," Sara said.

"Are you ready for it?" Grissom asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be. I'm still sort of nervous," Sara told him, "but it's more of being afraid I'll forget the lines I'm supposed to be repeating or something stupid like that."

Grissom laughed, "That's exactly what I'm afraid of doing!"

"Or just being so worried, I don't even hear them," Sara smiled.

"I have the feeling we'll both be fine," Grissom said seriously.

"Yeah," Sara agreed.

Both fell silent, just enjoying one another's company. Sara leaned on Grissom's shoulder and he gently stroked her hair. Sara was nearly asleep when Grissom gently kissed the top of her head.

"We should get to bed," he said softly.

"We have to get up early tomorrow," Sara moaned, following him to their bedroom.

"Yes we do," Grissom yawned, "which is why we're going to bed."

"Oh man, Orion's in the middle of the bed," Sara gestured toward their cat.

Grissom gently picked up the sleeping cat and moved him to the desk chair, "Problem solved dear."

"You make it seem so easy," Sara smiled and kissed him.

"Good night, love," Grissom said.

"Good night," Sara slipped under the covers, knowing she may not be able to sleep very well.

A/N: Well, today's blizzard gave me plenty of incentive to stay inside and write another chapter to the story. It's not snowing now, but it's still really windy. I have my fingers crossed that classes will get canceled tomorrow…I've got my eyes glued to the TV screen hoping to see Colorado State University scroll across with the rest of the closures, but something tells me I'll be going to classes tomorrow. :P


	30. Chapter 30

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to CSI blah blah blah, however the story line is mine, so I'll kick your butt if you steal it. ;) Hahaha. Now that's an entertaining thought.

**Chapter 30**

Sara woke up an hour before the alarm was set to go off and rolled over to find Orion where Grissom should have been. She scratched the cat's head as he purred and then rolled out of bed to see what Grissom was up to.

"Good morning, sweetie, I was hoping to catch you while you were still in bed," Grissom looked slightly disappointed, "I made breakfast."

Sara slid into a chair, "I'm still surprised. And I can still eat out here."

"True," Grissom slid a plate in front of her and took a seat across from her at their small table.

"Still nervous?" she asked.

"I wasn't until you said something," he smiled.

"I don't think I hardly slept at all last night," she shook her head slightly.

"No kidding, I felt you tossing and turning," he smirked, "not that I was asleep myself."

"So, Catherine will be here in about an hour and a half to pick me up," Sara said, "she has my dress and everything at her place."

"Okay. And I think the guys will probably show up here about an hour after that," Grissom chuckled.

"That's because men don't really worry about this kind of stuff. You guys could be ready in about ten minutes," she told him.

"You're right," he agreed, "but you and Catherine will spend hours on your hair and makeup."

"I'm not exactly thrilled about the prospect of it myself," she sighed, "but I've already come this far, I might as well go all the way."

"You make it sound like something horrible," he said with laughter in voice.

"Would you like to sit and have someone put you in makeup for hours?" she asked.

"No, thank you. I'm sorry you have to go through it," he hid his smile.

"I bet you are," she returned, also hiding a smile.

The hour seemed to fly by as the next thing they knew, Catherine was knocking on the door.

"Hello," Catherine greeted the pair warmly, "are you guys ready?"

"I don't want to leave you," Sara turned to Grissom, "I know it's stupid, but I'd rather not spend the day apart."

"Come on honey, it's only a few hours really," Grissom hugged her tightly, "besides, the next time we see each other, we'll be vowing to spend the rest of our lives together. I think you can handle a few hours with Catherine."

"You're right," she whispered into his ear and gave him one last, long kiss.

"Going to get the bride all ready?" Mrs. Grissom's sudden appearance startled the trio.

"Yes we are," Catherine said, "you must be Gil's mother. I'm Catherine Willows."

The two women briefly introduced themselves and then Mrs. Grissom turned to her son, "Son, I love you, I think I'm going to go with the ladies. I'll see you this afternoon."

"Bye mom," Grissom hugged his mother and waved as the three women left.

* * *

Two hours later, Catherine could tell that Sara was getting irritated with having her hair done. Part of her was having fun, knowing she was annoying Sara, but mostly she pitied her because she was not used to this kind of attention to her appearance. 

"I'm almost done Sara, I promise," Catherine told her.

"I hope so," Sara sighed.

"I'm sorry this is taking so long, but you are going to look amazing. And remember, this is a once in a lifetime thing, so you'll never have to endure this again. Besides if you had gone to a salon, they may have been faster, but it would be ridiculously expensive and they wouldn't take into account that you're not used to this kind of treatment," Catherine explained.

"I'm grateful for this, Cath, I really am. Sorry if I don't seem like it," Sara flashed her a smile, "without you, this wedding would not be happening."

"I know," Catherine smirked.

"I've probably been a pain all along, I'm really not into the whole planning thing, but I'm glad you made me help out," Sara confided.

"I knew you'd eventually come to that realization," Catherine laughed, "and I'm finished. Ready to see it?"

"Yes," Sara waited anxiously as Catherine spun her around to face the mirror, "wow."

"Is that a good wow or a bad wow?" Catherine asked.

"Good. Very good, my hair has never looked this amazing," Sara stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"Thank you," Catherine admired her own work.

"She looks beautiful," Mrs. Grissom piped up from the magazine she was reading.

"Thanks," Sara's face immediately turned red.

Sara's brown locks were curled and then placed on the top of her head with several ruby clips that Catherine had insisted she use. She really like the look of her hair and though it had taken way too long to complete, she was definitely satisfied with the result. Catherine now allowed Sara to relax, while she took care of her own hair. She took a seat next to Grissom's mother and watched in slight amazement at how good Catherine was with her own hair.

"You really do look beautiful, dear," Mrs. Grissom said.

"Thanks," Sara smiled.

"I'm so glad you're marrying my son," she continued.

"I feel so lucky to have him," Sara told her.

"Honestly, I've always thought I'd done something wrong with the way I raised him. I thought he'd never get married," she sniffled, "then when I met you, I just had this wonderful feeling. I think it was worth waiting for."

Sara also teared up, "You did a wonderful job with him. He's a great man."

The two women hugged and Catherine turned to them, "Good thing I didn't do your makeup yet."

Mrs. Grissom smiled, "You've obviously been through a wedding before."

"Yes," Catherine nodded knowingly, "I don't know about this one though, she's not real girly."

"I'm not a robot though," Sara added, "I do have feelings too."

"I know," Catherine smiled, "you're just like the rest of us. It's fun to tease you though."

* * *

"I wonder what the girls are doing," Nick mused, "I don't understand why we had to get together so early." 

"You know women, all their makeup and it takes them forever to do their hair," Warrick rolled his eyes.

"It probably won't take them the whole time anyway. It's just part of the wedding tradition," Grissom added, "the bride and groom have to be apart until the ceremony."

"Yeah, I guess that's true. If we know Sara, she won't let Catherine spend this much time doing the whole hair and makeup thing," Greg snickered.

"Maybe I should call and make sure Catherine's actually still alive," Warrick chuckled.

"She wouldn't kill Catherine right now," Brass jumped in, "the wedding would have to be called off so we could investigate."

A/N: I think the next chapter is probably going to be the last one. Thanks so much for all your support. I really do enjoy finding reviews in my inbox, they are usually what prompts me to get my chapters out faster. Oh, and on a TOTALLY unrelated note: Am I the only one who's creeped out by the Burger King commercials where the "King" is standing outside that guy's window? Man, the King is creepy. lol, I just saw that commercial, that's why it came up ;)


	31. Chapter 31

**Post-Butterflied**

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to CSI..the end.

**Chapter 31**

About an half hour before the ceremony was set to start, Catherine, Mrs. Grissom, Sara and Lindsey were all dressed and ready. Catherine was checking everyone's makeup and fixing a lock of Sara's hair that fallen loose. There was a soft knock on the door and Lindsey ran to see that it was Nick.

"Mom, it's Nick, should I let him in?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Catherine smiled, "we're all dressed."

Lindsey stepped aside and allowed the man to enter. He spotted Sara and his jaw dropped because she looked so beautiful.

"Nick, hello," Sara spun around and smiled brightly at her friend.

"Sara, you, you look amazing," Nick moved across the room and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks," she blushed slightly.

"It's almost time," Catherine checked the wall clock.

"I'm going to go take a seat now," Grissom's mother announced.

"Bye," Sara hugged her before she left.

Lindsey also left the room, leaving Catherine, Nick and Sara alone.

"I'm gonna go join Warrick, I'll see you in a few minutes," Nick said.

"Okay," Catherine closed the door behind him, "are you ready?"

Sara took a deep breath, "Yes. I think I am. I just wanted to say thank you so much for everything you've done. If this was left up to me and Gil, we'd be a disaster at this point."

Catherine laughed, "I figured I've been through this before, and you're one of my best friends, so I wanted to help you out. No offense, but this sort of thing isn't exactly what you're good at."

"I know," Sara smiled, "which is exactly why you're here. You did an excellent job with my hair, makeup, the dress, everything. I'm glad I had you here to help me out."

"Hey, before we go, don't let yourself get too nervous. Just remember how much you love him and how you're going to be spending the rest of your life with him," Catherine told her.

"I'll remember that," Sara hugged her friend, "shall we go join the boys?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to be late for your own wedding," Catherine held the door open for her.

"I don't know, it might be fun to make Gil sweat a little bit," Sara chuckled.

"Wow, ladies you both look great," Warrick said as the two women joined them, waiting for the music that would signal the start of the ceremony.

"You're not looking too bad yourself," Catherine smiled and kissed Warrick.

Sara silently linked arms with Nick and readied herself for the walk down the aisle. The music began to play and Catherine headed down the aisle with Warrick at her side. She couldn't help but think about perhaps walking down the aisle again with him again soon. A smile crept across her face as she considered the possibility of someday marrying him. Lindsey loved him, she loved him, and she knew he loved them. She shook her head, trying to remind herself to focus on her friends' wedding.

Before she knew it, Sara was slowly walking down the aisle with Nick at her side. Her smile grew wider as she spotted Grissom waiting for her and clearly surprised at her appearance. She joined him at the end of the aisle and kissed Nick as a thank you for walking her down the aisle.

"You're absolutely beautiful," Grissom whispered to her.

The ceremony went quickly and smoothly. They all stood together for various pictures afterward and then Grissom and Sara got into the waiting limousine that was going to take them to the reception. Once they were seated and waved to everyone who would meet them there, they had a chance to finally talk.

"You really look amazing," Grissom kissed her again.

* * *

"Is it just me, or was that whole thing like a blur?" Sara asked sheepishly.

"No, my head was spinning the whole time, I don't even remember if I said everything correctly," he laughed.

"I guess we both did all right if we're here," she smiled.

"Yeah, we both have our rings and no one seemed to be pointing or laughing when we left," he said.

"Good, then I'd say it went well," Sara laughed.

"I guess if either of us did something stupid, we'll be hearing about it at the reception," Grissom said.

The limousine arrived at the hotel where the reception was to be held. Grissom and Sara checked in to the room they were going to stay at for the night. They found their room and changed into more comfortable clothes. Long before the wedding, they had decided that everyone should change out of their wedding clothing because the reception would be much more enjoyable if they weren't wearing their fancy clothes.

"I don't know about you, but it feels so good to be out of that dress," Sara said.

"I wasn't wearing a dress, so I wouldn't know," Grissom teased.

"Very funny," Sara rolled her eyes.

"I'm not really one for fancy clothes, I know what you mean," Grissom agreed.

"I think the hardest part of this for me is going to be calling you by your first name. I've called you Grissom for so long," she told him, flopping over the bed for a few minutes while he changed his shoes.

"You don't have to call me Gil, I'll know who you're talking to," Grissom took a seat next to her.

"I'm so tired. Today was really long. And the stupid thing is, it's supposed to be about our love for each other and we spent the majority of the day apart," she sighed.

"But weddings are also about your family," Grissom reminded her, "and we have the next couple days on our honeymoon to be together."

"You're right," Sara kissed him, "let's go downstairs and meet everyone."

The newlyweds headed down to their reception where their friends and family were waiting. Grissom and Sara sat at a table to eat while music began to play.

"Shall we dance?" Grissom asked.

Sara suppressed a laugh at his silly tone, "Yes, we shall."

They went to the dance floor and began to dance, surprisingly gracefully. No one would have really expected the pair to be very good dancers, but they danced around the floor smoothly. Catherine and Warrick soon joined them on the floor, followed shortly by Greg and Lindsey. Brass asked Grissom's mother to dance, leaving Nick sitting by himself.

As soon as Sara noticed Nick sitting alone, she asked Grissom if he'd mind if she went and danced with Nick. Grissom was actually glad to have chance to sit down, as he was not wild about dancing.

"Hey Nicky, you look lonely," Sara smiled, "come dance with me."

"I'd never turn down a dance offer from a pretty lady," Nick took the offered hand.

"A _married_ lady, just remember that," Sara teased.

"I know," Nick smiled as they swept around the dance floor, "you're a great dancer Sara."

"You're not so bad yourself," she replied, "I just wanted to say thanks again for walking me down the aisle."

"No problem, I'd do almost anything for you," Nick told her, "I consider you to be a sister."

"I think of all of you guys as a family," Sara said, "more of a family than my real family ever was."

Nick furrowed his brow at that comment, but decided to let it slip. This was, after all supposed to be a very happy day. Warrick was now dancing with Lindsey and Catherine took a seat next to Grissom.

"Hey Gil, you look happy," Catherine said.

"I am," Grissom told her.

"I can honestly say when we were first working together, I would have never thought I'd be seeing you get married," Catherine told him.

"You know, I wouldn't have believed it either, but then this amazing, beautiful woman came into my life and changed that," Grissom watched as Sara laughed with Nick.

"Well, I'm glad that you're finally happy. Both of you are so perfect for each other too," Catherine said.

"I have the feeling you won't be alone much longer yourself," Grissom raised an eyebrow, "I know that look that you and Warrick exchange when you think you're alone."

"What are you a stalker?" Catherine joked, "I think you're right. I hope you're right, I know that Warrick could make both me and Lindsey happy. I've been worried ever since Eddie died that I was going to lose complete control over Lindsey and that I'd never find someone that both of us would be happy with."

"Warrick's a good man. He'll have a nice positive influence on Lindsey too," Grissom agreed.

"I guess Nick and Greg need to do some catching up then," Catherine said, "everyone else is pairing off."

"I don't think we have to worry about either of them," Grissom told her, "they'll end up dating lots and eventually finding the right women."

After everyone got tired of dancing, they sat down and had their share of wedding cake. By the end of the night, they had given the newlyweds their wedding presents and things were slowly winding down. Everyone finally decided to head home, leaving Grissom and Sara to their honeymoon. They went up to their hotel room and laid down on the soft hotel bed.

"I am so tired," Sara yawned.

"Me too," Grissom replied tiredly.

"It's been a long day," she said.

"But it's been a good day," he told her.

"Just think, tomorrow will be even better. We're past all that formal tradition and we can just be ourselves," she rolled onto her side to face him.

"Yeah," he admired her beautiful face.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, you're just beautiful," he leaned forward and kissed her.

She smiled into the kiss and returned it passionately. They slowly undressed one another.

"I love you," Sara whispered huskily into his ear.

"I love you more than I've ever loved anyone," he said.

A/N: I've been really busy, I intended to post this last chapter a lot sooner. The end of the school year is a crazy time, so IF I end up doing a sequel to this story, don't expect if for the next month. I am seriously considering a sequel right now, I just don't have the time at the moment. Thank you everyone who has read this story and I really appreciate all of you have left the kind, encouraging reviews! You always make my day. Also, I didn't want to go into a whole lot of detail on the wedding ceremony itself because I haven't been to weddings in my life, and I thought the later character interactions were more important. I guess this could have been broken into two chapters because it's so long, but I thought I should just finish the story all at once.


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